Take Me Away Tonight
by Captain Symmetry
Summary: After Soul insults Maka's lack of appeal Maka becomes overly upset and confused about her feelings, she takes some time to vent whilst Soul is unconscious. Based on the song Amber Lynn by Mayday Parade. There. Will. Be. FLUFF
1. City Rooftops

**Take me away tonight**

_**_Based on the song Amber Lynn by Mayday Parade.  
>Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure you know I don't own Soul Eater already, but for some reason people put disclaimers on their stories.<br>This is my first fic, so please be nice, although I don't mind constructive criticism. :)_**_

_She said boy you better say you're sorry,  
>don't think forgiveness will come easy,<br>cause its all that I have to give,  
>and boy I get the strangest pleasure,<br>just sitting on these city rooftops  
>and see the lights that go on for miles.<em>

City Rooftops

"Blegh, your cooking is about as unattractive as you are." Soul always enjoyed making fun of Maka, her lack of kitchen skills and her appearance were two of his favourite topics when it came to poking fun at her flaws.

"SOOUUULL!" Maka's rage was the most entertaining part, seeing her loose her usual calm composure was the best thing about pissing her off.

"I swear this chicken is as bland and dry as your chest is flat." It's all just innocent fun, Soul pisses off Maka, and she responds with violence. That's the way it is, Soul knows that Maka is tough, it's not like she actually takes it seriously.

"Makaaaa..." and here comes the violent response. Soul braced himself.  
>"CHOP!" And there was nothing but darkness. Had Soul been conscious, he would have seen his meister pocket a little money, grab the novel she's reading and leave the apartment, vacant eyed with a solemn, emotionless look on her face.<p>

_x

Maka walked to the small family bakery just down the road from her apartment building, the plump old Mrs Henson greeted her at the counter, cheerily as always.

"Maka dear, what a pleasure to see you today, how's life treating you?"

"I've been better, but I'm fine, I just need some comfort food, and your baked goodies sound pretty good right about now." Maka put on a smile for Mrs Henson, she's one of those people who you just can't be upset around, like a loving grandmother who could cure anything with a hug and a cookie.

"Oh deary, has that Soul boy been causing you strife again? I've got just the thing, banana muffins, baked fresh this morning. They say bananas have a special something in them, I think they're called endolfins? No, endumplings? I can't remember, but they make you feel happier."

"_Endorphins_ Mrs Henson, they're called endorphins." Maka couldn't help but giggle at the old woman's antics, she's good natured and can bake like you won't believe, but poor Mrs Henson wasn't always 'all there'.  
>"I think I'll take a few of those muffins, four to be exact."<p>

"My my, you must be in a mighty lot of hurt to need _four_ muffins, that comes to twelve dollars." Maka handed over the money and received a paper packet filled with her muffins. _You have no idea how much hurt I'm in Mrs Henson_, Maka thought to herself.  
>"Enjoy the rest of your day, and don't go letting that boy get you down anymore, you got me? Now get going, it's past six and I need to close up shop."<p>

"Yes ma'am" Maka hurried back to her apartment block. She didn't know if Soul had woken up yet, but didn't want to risk going back to the apartment, there's no way she could face him in her current mood.  
>Maka climbed the fire escape stairs to the roof of the building, her 'space' where she went when she needed time alone. She sat on one of the massive air conditioning units, sighing, half from grief, half from the relief of finally being alone on <em>her<em> roof.  
>She pulled out the book from her bag and proceeded to eat her muffins under the stars, as they slowly came to life in the darkening sky.<p>

_x

"Damn it! Maka? Where are you?" Soul woke to find himself on the kitchen floor in the dark empty apartment. _Wait? It's dark, how long was I unconscious? Seven forty? Shit, I was out for over an hour._ He rose from the floor and saw the dinner Maka had prepared sitting untouched and cold on the kitchen table. _That's weird, Maka eats like a horse, she wouldn't just leave her food sitting there, she must have gone out for dinner._ Pleased with his deductive reasoning, Soul picked a bag of chips from the cupboard, opened the window to let in the cool evening air and dropped himself onto the couch, hoping there would be something half decent on TV.  
>"Boring, stupid, stupidly boring, boring, is there nothing interesting on TV at all?" Flicking through every channel, Soul was unsatisfied with the lack of choice in TV programs. It was then, after turning the TV off, defeated in his quest for entertainment, that Soul noticed a strange sound coming from outside. It was faint, had he not been near the open window, Soul mightn't have even noticed it. Curious, he peered outside. Nothing, the source of the mysterious noise wasn't coming from the street below. But with his head stuck out the window, Soul heard the noise clearer, it almost sounded like someone... sobbing? And it came from the roof. <em>Whatever, doesn't affect me.<em> He returned to the TV in the hopes that something interesting had come on during the two minutes he spent away from the couch. Curiosity and boredom got the better of him and Soul soon found himself leaving the apartment in search of the mysterious 'sobbing' noise.

_x

Maka lay back and watched the stars twinkling elegantly around the moon; she finished her book a few minutes ago and now had nothing to distract her mind. She didn't feel like going back inside just yet, that much she knew, but she was running out of reasons to stay up on the roof.  
>Down to her last muffin, Maka picked off chunks to eat, hoping to slow down her eating, not wanting to run out of delicious muffin yet; she sat up and stared out over the city, little spots of light danced and flickered as the inhabitants of Death City switched their lights on and off, creating a scene that was full of accidental beauty.<p>

Maka began to think about what Soul had said earlier; did he really mean it when he said she's unattractive? She knew he didn't have any feelings towards her other than friendship, but surely he knew how much it hurt her when he said those things, even if it is a joke; friends aren't supposed to hurt their friend's feelings. Maka was well aware of her below average breast size; she's a late bloomer that's all.  
>A <em>very<em> later bloomer, at seventeen years old, she only just got away with fitting a b-cup; she had nothing in the way of hips, and she was short for her age. None of this really bothered Maka until she discovered her sexuality and started considering _boyfriends_ and _relationships_.  
>She loved the idea of being swept off her feet by her prince on a white horse, but trust issues from her father made her instantly reject the idea whenever she seriously considered it.<p>

_Stupid Maka! You're a strong and capable young woman! Something as stupid as a little insult shouldn't get you so worked up. Why does this matter so much? Why can't I be rational about this? It's only recently that any of Soul's insults actually affect me, what's changed that I can't deal with a little jesting? Why am I crying?_

At some point during her mental scolding, Maka had let her irrational emotions show themselves in the form of tears and quiet sobbing. _Why am I being so weak? I kill monsters for a living and don't bat an eyelid, but a little insult from Soul and I'm crying like a little girl._  
>That's when it hit her, a little insult <em>from Soul<em>. It's not the insult that mattered, but rather who it came from. Soul is the only person in the world Maka truly trusts, the thought of her closest friend being the one to hurt her is what got to her.  
>She continued crying, <em>it's better to let it all out now than to bottle it up.<em>

"Maka?" The worried and surprised voice of Soul snapped Maka from her thoughts and then caused her to blush furiously when she realised he caught her in the middle of crying out her emotions.

"S-Soul? What are you doing here?" Her voice cracked from not being used in over an hour other than to make sobbing noises, causing Maka even more embarrassment knowing that she didn't look of sound anything like the strong confident young woman she usually was; and even more embarrassed that it was _Soul_ witnessing her rarely seen emotional side, very uncool as he would say.

"I came up here cause I heard someone crying and I was bored, so I came up to investigate. Now what I want to know is what are _you_ doing up here all alone in the dark?"

"I came up here for some air." Maka decided it was for the best not to tell Soul the real reason for her evening being spent on the dirty roof of the apartment building.

"Really? How long have you been up here? I was beginning to get worried, it's not like you to just leave without telling me." Its true Soul was a little worried about his meister, but he hadn't intended to actually mention it.

"I didn't tell you because you were unconscious." Maka was getting annoyed, Soul marched up here to disrupt her 'Maka time' because he was apparently so worried about her; but he hadn't even considered apologizing for earlier, for the reason she was up here to begin with.

"You could have at least left a note or something, maybe even telling me why you left." Still no apology. _He'd better say he's sorry before I snap at him._

"You want to know why I left?"

"Yes." Slightly annoyed at his ignorance, Maka was hoping he would figure it out on his own, but he clearly didn't see what he did wrong.

"I left because you hurt me." She hadn't meant to put it so bluntly, but she spoke before thinking. Turning away, Maka silently cursed herself for being so weak as even more tears made their presence known.

"I, actually _hurt _you? I, I didn't realise, I thought-"

"That's the problem Soul, you don't ever think about how your insults affect me." Maka snapped, her pity had turned to anger; anger at Soul for being so stupid and making her feel so bad, anger at herself for getting so worked up about it and causing a scene, and anger at her tears for continuing to fall despite her rage, making her fury less than threatening and confusing her emotions.  
>She turned away again, hoping to hide her tears a little.<p>

"I'm sorry." It came as almost a whisper, unsure if she actually heard him Maka dared a peek at Soul to see him head down in shame, clearly scolding himself on the inside. Maka softened at the pathetic sight, almost feeling like _she_ should apologize.

"Soul, I forgive you." Soul looked up into Maka's eyes, hopeful that he had been redeemed.

"Maka, I didn't know how much it hurt you when I joke around like that, I thought you didn't mind and you know I would never want to hurt you like that. Truth is I-"

"Shhh! The apology was sufficient, now stop talking or you'll ruin it."

"But I didn't get to finish what I was saying, I was going to say-"

"I said shush, now, if you're really sorry, you'll stop trying to explain because I understand."

"but-"

"No." Soul turned to go back inside.

"Aren't you coming in? It's gotten really dark, and a little cold."

"No, I don't mind a little cold, it's not so bad. Plus, it's not dark, there's light everywhere. It's actually really pretty, like fairy lights. Come have a look." Soul almost laughed at how transfixed his meister seemed to be. He sat next to her on the air conditioner, inwardly agreeing that the twinkling lights of the city and the stars was very beautiful, almost as beautiful as the girl sitting next to him. He sighed.

"Hmm? Something wrong?"

_No, I was just thinking about how much I adore you.  
><em>"No, just a little chilly." Soul lied, silently cursing himself for not telling her how he felt, he knew she wouldn't feel the same, but it would be nice to get it off his chest.

"Oh, okay." Cheerily, Maka scooted over; closer to Soul so they sat huddled together. "Better?"

"Uh, yeah." Thankfully the darkness masked the deep red blush on Soul's face.  
><em>Maybe that lie wasn't such a bad idea.<em>


	2. Dreaming

**Take me away tonight**

****Disclaimer: I still don't own Soul Eater, I'll be sure to tell you when I do.****

_And I'm dreaming all the time,  
>My heart is racing, yeah,<br>I'm dreaming all the time,  
>Won't you be mine.<em>

Dreaming

"Soul!" That voice is so familiar, whose is it again? "Soul, over here." Maka, it had to be Maka; no one else could make Soul feel so delightfully dizzy with mere words alone. He turned to find the short blonde smiling at him, wearing a white sundress and white sandals. Soul walked over to her and found that she had set out a picnic. "Come join me, I can't possibly eat all this on my own."

"Maka, did you set this out yourself?" Soul was curious, Maka wasn't the type to pack her own picnic, it must be a special occasion if she put this much effort in.

"Of course I did, are you going to join me or not?"

"Oh, yeah, of course." They sat together in silence, eating little sandwiches and drinking juice until Maka spoke up.

"Soul, I wanted to talk to you. I know how you feel about me." Soul was shocked, he was certain that he had never been obvious about his feelings; he made sure that he never acted on them, he concealed them the way he concealed most of his emotions. He made fun of how she looks so she wouldn't catch on to how he _really_ thought of her appearance.  
>How did she find out? How <em>could<em> she have possibly found out?

"What?" Of all the things Soul could have said, he came up with 'what'. This is exactly the effect she had on him, one thought of Maka and his mind turned to mush.

"I said, I know how you feel about me, and-"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to make anything weird between us."

"Soul, it's not weird, I feel the same way." Soul didn't know what to think, his mind was overloaded, trying to make sense of what he just heard, trying to think how to reply. Should he say something? If so, what to say?

"Soul?" He loved the way his name sounded on her lips, like the sweetest sound in the world. Next thing he knew, Maka was kissing him full on the mouth._  
>What's that noise? It's so irritating.<em>  
>All Soul wanted to think about was Maka and kissing her, but that noise was just so invasive, he couldn't think; it's like the noise was getting into his mind and dominating his thoughts, the worst part was that it was disrupting the kiss.<br>Soul pulled away.

"Maka, do you hear that?" He wondered if he was going crazy, it seemed like only he could hear the noise. Maka opened her mouth to speak but soul heard nothing.

_BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP BEEP._

Soul recognized the noise now, it sounded a lot like...

"My alarm clock." Of course it was a dream, there's no way that would ever happen in real life. But still Soul felt kind of cheated by his alarm clock, even if it was a dream, Soul enjoyed the thought of Maka returning his feelings, and the thought of her kissing him made him ecstatic.  
>"Stupid cock-blocking alarm clock." Soul lay there deep in thought for a few minutes, going over the previous night's events in his head. Maka had cuddled up to him, is it possible she has feelings for him? No, she most likely did it out of friendship; Soul had mentioned being cold and she had moved closer to him to keep him warm. It's a completely innocent gesture, and she trusts him enough to be close like that without feelings getting involved.<br>_Wait a second. What day is it? Okay, yesterday Maka made spaghetti bolognaise and pasta night is always a Sunday, that means-  
><em>"Oh, SHIT!" _It's Monday, what am I still doing in bed?_

"Soul, get your lazy ass out of bed, it's almost time to leave." _Her voice still sounds like honey, even when she's scolding me, what curse is this? She could probably beat me half to death and I would still think she's the most amazing girl in the world._ Soul sighed, a long weary sigh; he had gotten plenty of sleep last night, but somehow the thought of getting up for school made him drowsy. Slowly he pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the bathroom he shared with his meister.

"Ugh, no time to wash my hair." He inspected his hair in the vanity mirror. "I guess I can get away with it, not like my hair gets _that_ dirty." Soul got undressed and couldn't help but notice the reflection of his scar in the mirror; it seemed to stand out more under the fluorescent globe in the bathroom. Soul kind of liked his scar, to him the scar, once a deep gash across his torso, symbolised just how much he would risk to keep Maka safe, and how strong his feelings for her really are. But Maka thought much differently of the pale line which had almost killed Soul, she blamed herself for him getting hurt; she saw it as a horrible mistake, the result of poor judgement and a brief lapse in concentration which had almost killed her best friend and partner. She was ashamed of the scar and what it represented.  
>Soul pulled himself away from the mirror and his thoughts and into the shower. He washed himself a quickly as humanly possible, and forced himself to leave the steamy comfort of the shower only to find a lack of clean clothes.<br>"You have _got_ to be kidding me." He wrapped the towel around his waist and moved quickly to his room to dress.

_x

At school, Soul struggled to stay awake, fighting his boredom with all his energy. He never paid any attention in class, if there was something he didn't understand Maka would explain it to him anyway. _Maka_. He looked to his left and glimpsed the youthful beauty next to him. _Are her eyes always that green? They're beautiful; and her lips, they look so full and soft, I wonder what they would really feel like against mine._  
>Thinking about these things had Soul's heart racing, daydreaming about Maka, about being with Maka, nothing sexual, Soul had always respected women and could never look Maka in the eye again if he ever had perverted thoughts about her. So daydreams were kept PG, Soul thought about going to the movies with her, and holding hands while walking together, hugging her and lifting her off her feet, dancing together.<br>Soul was an excellent dancer, evidence of his high end upbringing, and he knew Maka was as clumsy on a dance floor as a fish out of water; but somehow the idea of him holding her close to his body and guiding her through a dance was the most heavenly thought.  
><em>I wonder, should I ask her out to Shibusen's 500<em>_th__ anniversary ball? Would she like that? Would she even say yes? I could ask her as a friend, I guess, and maybe make a move at the ball. But it's so far away, what if she becomes interested in someone or gets a boyfriend before then?  
>Maybe I should do it soon, but what do I say? I've never asked a girl out before, what am I supposed to do?<br>'Maka, I know how much you hate the idea of romance and that you think men are all cheating scum, but do you want to go out with me?' Yeah, like that would work; I'm pretty much screwed, if she finds out I feel like _that_ about her, she'll think I'm just trying to get in her pants and not only will I get rejected, but I'll lose my partner and best friend too. Ugh, this is all too complicated._

"Soul? Soul!" The voice of his beloved brought him back to the real world.

"Huh? Wuh?"

"Soul! Class is over, get up. Don't tell me you were zoned out the whole time?" _oh shit. I spent a whole two hours daydreaming?_

"Uh, no, I paid attention."

"No you didn't, you're a terrible liar, I can see strait through you." _She can? Does she know? No, she can't possibly know, no one knows._  
>"Well, are you gonna get up or not, I'm kind of waiting for you."<p>

"Oh, right, yeah, sorry." Still slightly dazed, and disoriented from his time spent daydreaming, Soul picked up his bag and left the room, closely followed by Maka.

_x

In the cafeteria, Maka watched curiously as Soul sat there staring into space. _What is up with him lately? He's so zoned out all the time._ Maka was rudely disrupted from her thoughts with the arrival of Black Star.

"It is I, Black Star, who has graced you with his godly presence, be grateful, peasant!" Maka internally groaned and Soul broke out of his daze.

"Hey man, how'd the mission go?" _That has to be the first complete sentence he's used all day, why did he waste intelligible speech on _Black Star _of all people._

"Dude, it was great, _I_ was great, what else could you expect from _me_? He came at me all like 'ARRGGG' and I was like 'you have no right to say _that_ to me, _I_ am the great Black Star, you don't attack me, you bow down to me. But he just kept coming, so it was totally _on_, I came at him all like BAM! POW! And-" Maka tuned out Black Star's egocentric drone and turned to talk with Tsubaki, the unfortunate partner of Black Star.

"How did the mission _really_ go?" Maka new Black Star, and knew he would be over exaggerating.

"It went alright, until Black Star blew our cover. We were meant to do a quick assassination, but you know Black Star, he has to make his presence known." Tsubaki, always the one to find something good in everyone never seemed to mind when Black Star botched a mission, she just laughed it off.

"Did you actually get the soul?" Maka already knew the answer.

"Uh, no, he got away, but there's always next time." Maka wondered how Tsubaki could put up with an incompetent partner, sure Black Star was a brilliant fighter and assassin, but his massive ego got in the way, which generally gave his opponents a chance to escape.

"Bad luck I guess." It wasn't bad luck, it was incompetence.

"So, uh Maka, how're you and Soul going?" Odd question, it's not like they had been on a mission recently.

"We're good?" Confusion was evident in Maka's voice.

"No, I mean, how are you two, you know." Tsubaki added a wink for extra effect, but Maka still had no idea what she was on about.

"Tsubaki, I don't _know_. What are you talking about?"

"Come on Maka, we're best friends, you can't hide your feelings from me, I've seen you two together." Okay, now this was getting weird.

"Tsubaki, are you implying that me and Soul..? No, no, no, we're close, but that's it, we are partners, we have to maintain a strictly platonic relationship, or else we wouldn't be able to fight properly together." Maka explained the issues with having feelings for her partner to the weapon in front of her, who seemed unconvinced.

"Alright, whatever you say. Anyway, we'd better got to class." With that the group left for class, while Black Star continued going on about how 'amazing' he was on his latest failed mission.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, I'm really happy excited that my story has so many people reading and enjoying it; thanks guys, it means a lot to me and I'll try my best to update regularly. :)**


	3. You Know Me Best

**Take Me Away Tonight**

You Know Me Best

_I am stuck between the lines,  
>It just won't come out right,<br>Till I find mine, till I find mine,  
>And Amber Lynn, I won't forget,<br>The simple things, you know, you know me best,  
>But I can't seem to find a way in you.<em>

If there was one thing Maka knew, it was Soul.  
>But lately he seemed... Different; not by much, it's just the little things which only Maka could ever notice. He was 'out of it' and off in his own world a lot, his usual 'cool' composure was at times lost, something that would normally never happen, and when they resonated, she could feel he was distant, like he was holding something back. He even completely ignored Blair's teasing, when he would usually pass out with a fountain of blood streaming from his nose, he just calmly sat there and told Blair to leave him alone and stop messing with him. Last time this happened, a rather unhappy Blair decided to leave for a few weeks, mentioning something about visiting family. When Maka asked Soul why he was suddenly rejecting Blair's advances, all he said was:<br>'She's all over one man one minute and another the next, it's just not cool, I don't want to be associated with _that_ kind of behaviour, like I said, it's not a cool image.'

All these things on their own wouldn't have fazed Maka, but they built up and soon she found herself worrying. _Is there something Soul's not telling me? Does he not trust me? Surely by now he would know that I'm here for him no matter what's wrong. He wouldn't be leaving me for another partner; we've gone through too much together for him to consider it. Or is he?_  
>These thoughts just puzzled and worried Maka more, bringing her to the edge of paranoia. <em>What if he <em>is_ leaving me for someone else? Maybe he's dying or something? No, I would know if he was dying. Maybe someone else is dying? No, no one is dying, he _must_ be leaving me for another meister, someone cooler and stronger and more likely to make him a death scythe. Okay, wait, I need to know what's really going on, I can't stand all this guessing._

It was the Monday afternoon after Tsubaki had accused Maka of having _feelings_ for Soul, it was around five o'clock when the latter was lounging on the couch watching a basketball game on TV, while Maka sat at her desk studying; or rather, trying to study while stubborn thoughts of Soul leaving her tormented Maka until she could take it no more and just _had _to know what was going on.

"Soul?" she called from her bedroom doorway, looking out to the lounge room.

"Yeah Maka, what's up? You know I couldn't help you with homework if I tried, so don't bother asking." His lazy response came from the couch.

"It's not that, I just wanted to... talk. If that's okay with you?" Confusion was evident on Soul's face as Maka sat down rigidly on the couch next to him.

_x

Soul knew for a fact that when a girl says 'I just want to talk' it's not a good sign.

"Uh, sure? I guess, what do you wanna talk about?" Came the nervous answer from the now petrified weapon.

"Well, it's about how you've been acting lately, it's strange. And I want to know if you've considered maybe looking for a new partner?" _What?_ Soul sat frozen in shock_ She can't be serious? Has she caught on to how I feel? She must have, she thinks I've been acting weird and must have worked out I have feelings for her, and now she's weirded out and wants a different partner. I can't believe this._

"Me? No, I haven't; why would I be looking for a different partner? You know how I feel about you, of course I haven't been looking. But if that's what you want, then sure, I guess I could start looking." Soul could feel himself die a little inside, knowing that the girl he loved doesn't want to work with him anymore _because_ he loves her.

"Y-you haven't? Thank god, I was beginning to think that you were acting strange 'cause you were planning to leave me, I'm so glad you're not, we work well together." Soul didn't know how to properly describe the feeling, that little piece of him that died moments before had been resurrected and came back with such joyous enthusiasm he thought he might explode. "But that said, I still want to know what's wrong? I know you better than I know myself, so I know there's something troubling you. Please, if you can't talk to me, who can you talk to?" Pleading for him to share with her, one look at her eyes and Soul almost blurted out the whole unedited truth, but he caught himself; he knew he had to be careful, he didn't want to say too much, it might scare Maka away. He wanted to tell her at the right time, but this didn't feel like it; he wasn't entirely sure what or when the right time would be, but this definitely wasn't it.

"I uh, I've just been getting a little stir-crazy I guess, I mean we haven't been on a mission for months, not since _'Italy'_. The mention of the disastrous mission to Italy was considered taboo around Maka, who still blamed herself for Soul's injury. It seemed bringing up the subject worked, Soul's little lie about lacking in recent missions being the cause of his 'different' behaviour distracted Maka from her prying investigation.

"We haven't been on a mission since _Italy_ because I wanted you to fully recover before going back out into the field again."

"Maka, it took like two weeks for me to fully recover, I've been in perfect health for at least two months since, you can't possibly use the excuse of waiting for me to recover." There was a brief pause while Maka took in what Soul just said and thought it over.

"Alright, tomorrow we'll take a look at the notice board and see if there's a suitable mission available." This was definitely a good turn of events, Soul had only meant to change the subject, but he also managed to convince Maka to take up a mission, something he was missing a lot.

"Great, well, you'd better get back to your homework or whatever it is that you nerdy people do in your spare time, I've got a game to watch." Pleased with the outcome of the conversation, Soul promptly turned to face the TV, trying to catch up on what he missed.

"Yeah, okay. But Soul?"

"Yeah?" His gaze never leaving the screen, Soul answered curiously.

"How _do_ you feel about me?" Soul almost choked on the air he was breathing. _Where the hell did that question come from?_

"What?" He tried to play it off coolly, but Soul could feel himself tremble slightly as he once again considered the possibility of Maka knowing how he felt.

"Well before you said something like 'you know how I feel about you', so I wanted to know; how do you feel about me Soul?" He could hear his heart pounding in his ear as he tried to think of something to say that wouldn't give himself away.

"Uh, you're my best friend. And I trust you a lot, so you know, I care about you and we work well together, I didn't want you to leave me for another weapon. Why so curious?"

"It's nothing, just thinking about something Tsubaki mentioned earlier today, that's all." _I seem to have gotten out of that alright, she doesn't seem to suspect a thing._

"What was it that she had to say?" Soul became _really_ anxious when he realised what Maka said, _'something Tsubaki mentioned', Tsubaki is quiet and observant, it's very likely she has already picked up on my feelings towards Maka._

"Oh, nothing, just stuff, you know, girl talk." Maka turned and left the room, leaving Soul to openly fret over what he just heard. '_Girl talk_' _that's bad, girl talk means girls talking about boys, and talking about those boys having feelings for one of the girls. Does this mean..? No, Tsubaki is not one to gossip, but girls are different when they're alone, they become gossipy and talk about EVERYTHING, no secret is safe with a group of girls. Does this mean Liz and Patty know too? And knowing Patty, she's blurted the whole thing to Kidd and Black Star. Damn it!_

_x

Maka sat at her desk, looking at her homework, but not seeing it, she was too deep in thought to even register the paper sitting in front of her. _Does Tsubaki know something I don't know? Maybe she's onto something, I mean she'd be the first to pick up on something like that, she is pretty observant. Maybe I _do_ have feelings for Soul, I just haven't realised yet? It's possible, we are really close, and if I think about it I guess he is pretty good looking; he has a cute smile, and beautiful eyes, such a deep crimson. He smells nice too, plus he has a pretty good body._ That last thought had Maka blushing furiously when she realised she was fantasising about her partner, who was currently sitting in the next room.  
><em>What am I thinking, just because I find him physically attractive doesn't mean anything, there have to be dozens of girls who think he's hot.<br>But he's the first guy I've ever trusted, and there's a reason for that; he genuinely cares about me, and he's the only person I would let see me cry without beating him to a pulp. Maybe I do? He's always there for me. It's very possible I do. We trust each other with everything, even our lives; Soul even risked his to save me._

_I do like him, I like Soul. I like him a lot._

_I guess I should tell Tsubaki she was right, I guess I just didn't realise it._

_x

Soul hadn't realised how late it had gotten until the game he was watching finished and his stomach growled in protest of not being fed on time.

"Damn, it's gotten late, and it's my turn to cook." Going over it in his head, Soul decided it was too late in the evening to start cooking dinner, ordering out seemed to be the best option. "Hey Maka, I'm gonna order take out tonight, whatchya want?" He called out to his meister.

"Umm, maybe pizza, I'm in a pizza mood." _Cool, I feel like pizza too, so a meat lovers for me and a Hawaiian, extra ham, for Maka._ Soul found the phone from the bench where he left it last time he ordered food and dialled the pizza shop's number.

"_Hello, this is Pizza Palace, can I take your order?"_

"Yeah, I'll have two large pizzas, a meat lovers and a Hawaiian with extra ham, oh and I'll also have a large bottle of pepsi."

"_Alright, that comes to $19.65. Is that pick up or delivery?"_

"Delivery thanks, address is apartment 506 at 29 Hunting Road."

"_Oky-doky, your pizza will be there in about half an hour. Thank you for ordering from Pizza Palace."_ The line went dead and Soul hung up the phone. _Cool, now I've just got to distract myself until the pizza arrives. What to do?_ Soul surveyed the room, looking for a possible source of entertainment; that's when he saw it, one of Maka's novels laying on the coffee table. _Might as well, not like I have anything better to do._ He gingerly picked up the small-ish book and flipped over to the front cover, it seemed innocent enough, the generic cover was blank save for the title and author's name which didn't matter much to Soul as he flicked to where Maka's bookmark lay, about halfway through the book.

Little known fact about Soul is that he is actually a very competent reader, fast too, the only reason he didn't read was that he never found books to be interesting.  
>But by the time the doorbell rang, Soul had almost finished the book, having been enthralled by the cheesy romance. He compared himself to the hero of the story, and Maka to the heroine, the only difference being that the character in the book had the guts to tell the girl how he felt.<p>

Soul pulled himself from the couch, motivated by the prospect of food, and made his way to the door where the pizza delivery girl stood holding two steaming boxes.

"Hi there, you're the one who ordered the large pepsi and two large pizzas, one meat lovers and a Hawaiian with extra ham?" She seemed to brighten up slightly upon seeing Soul.

"Uhh yeah, how much is it again?" The girl looked at the receipt while Soul pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans, searching its contents.

"$15.60 thank you" Soul was sure it was more on the phone, but he wasn't about to give up a discount. He handed over the money and took the pizza and pepsi from the girl and was just about to retreat inside when she spoke. "What a strange colour your eyes are, they're stunning, if you don't mind me asking is that your natural colour or are they contacts?" _What is it to her if I'm wearing contacts?_

"Natural." Soul's answer was curt, but that didn't stop the pizza girl from commenting further on his appearance.

"They really stand out against your hair, do you bleach it? I've never seen bleached hair _that_ white, it's usually a weird blonde colour, but yours looks nice." She finished her short ramble with a smile. Soul was sick of this girl's annoying small talk, and was also sick of holding two large pizza boxes and the bottle of pepsi.

"That's also natural, if you don't mind I'm going to eat my dinner now. Goodbye." Soul caught a glimpse of the girl's smile fall slightly as he closed the door. He turned and almost had a heart attack when he found Maka standing behind him, in a position where she would have been unnoticed by 'Pizza girl'.

"FUC- holy- damn Maka, are you trying to kill me or something?" Trying to catch his breath Soul took the pizza to the kitchen table and fetched some plates.

"No, I was just... _Observing_. The pizza girl seemed friendly, must have some problems with sight, I walked past in plain sight of her but she didn't seem to notice; mustn't be the brightest girl either, her math is a little off, I'm pretty sure two pizzas and a pepsi has always come to $19.65, unless they have a new special which I'm not aware of." There was something _off_ about how Maka spoke about the pizza girl, but Soul couldn't place it and was too hungry to be bothered trying to work it out. He opened the pizza box and caught on to what Maka must have been implying.

'_Kelly, 0410239435'_

"I think the pizza girl have me her phone number."

"I figured, I saw her scribble something on the inside of the lid while you were busy looking through your wallet." Maka calmly explained how the unwanted flirtatious gesture found its way onto the lid of a pizza box and began eating her meal. "Are you going to call her?"

_Weird question, since when does Maka care about me calling random girls?_ "Nah, I don't even know her."

"I think that's the point, so you can get to know her." She stated between bites of pizza.

"Yeah, but I'm not interested."

"First you reject Blair without even a drop of nose blood, and now you're ignoring pizza girl's advances; Soul are you gay?" She joked. Soul knew she was joking by the way she tilted her head slightly, pulling a mock questioning face. _Even with the stupid expression on her face and a little bit of cheese hanging from the corner of her mouth,_ _she still looks as cute as ever._  
>They laughed together at Maka's little joke until they were both quiet again, too busy stuffing their faces with greasy goodness to talk. It stayed that way for about a minute before Maka spoke up.<p>

"But seriously Soul, she seemed nice, and she was pretty too, why not?" Soul was caught off guard by this question. _Was the girl that pretty? _He hadn't noticed. _And sure she seemed nice, but she was too ditsy, she didn't seem to have anything much to her._ Soul thought about what Maka had just asked, _'Why not?' The answer is bleatingly clear, because I love _you_ not her._ That's when a brilliant idea hit him maybe it was the cheesy romance he just read, but Soul thought it was the best idea in the world. _I'll tell her why, I'll tell her how I feel. I just need to word this right._

"She's not my type, I prefer someone with character, ambition." _Someone like you_. For some reason he just couldn't say it, he meant to finish that sentence out loud, but couldn't.

"Not your type? Do tell, what is your type?" _This is it, okay, simple, just tell her the she's your type okay, go!_

_You are. _"Uh, well, I like brains over looks, no point being with an idiot just because they look good, I'd want to be able to have an actual conversation with them." _Stupid, stupid, stupid! Damn, why can't I just do this, it's just words, I'm perfectly capable of talking, why won't anything come out right?_

"Surely there's more to your dream girl than that?" _Of course there is, she's beautiful and confident, and one of the best fighters in all of Shibusen. She's not superficial and one of the most _real_ people you could ever meet, she's also my best friend and sitting at the table eating pizza with me._

"Yeah, but it's hard to put into words, the point is that girl _wasn't_ her." _WHY? What is wrong with me? Why can't I just say it?_

"Kay, whatever you say, it can't really be that hard to put into words, you just don't want me to know who your secret crush is." She teased with a 'knowing' wink as she took her plate to the sink and the pizza box to the bin. _Does she know? No, she was joking._

"Huh? What are you talking about?" He tried to play it off, but inside Soul was frozen in place, waiting for her to let out what she knows.

"I've worked it out, the _real_ reason you've been so weird lately, you've totally got the hots for someone." A triumphant grin was plastered on Maka's face as she turned, leaning against the bench top to once again face the dumbstruck Soul. "So who is it? It's totally Tsubaki isn't it? Hate to break it to you, but she's got it bad for someone else. Is it Liz? Oh wait, she's not much in the brains, like you said brains over beauty." She paused, mocking deep thought. "Oh Soul." Maka shook her head slowly in shame. "Patty is a little young for you, don't you think?" By this point Maka was struggling to stop herself from laughing, but somehow managed to maintain herself long enough to take one last teasing attempt at guessing Soul's crush. "Well, if it's not any of them..." she trailed off and feigned shock as if suddenly realising something. "Soul, I'm so sorry, is this a bad time to tell you I'm a lesbian?" She looked at him trying to keep her face serious but failed when a smile cracked through and she eventually hit the floor in a laughing fit.

Soul was not impressed by her ridiculing his feelings, he left to his room, fed up with Maka's childish behaviour. That was all it took to sober her up from the crazed laughing fit. Maka followed Soul, suddenly feeling remorse for her previous actions.

"I'm sorry Soul, I was just having a little fun with you, I didn't mean to make fun of you. If you _do_ like someone, then that's great. I just, I'm sorry." Soul stopped at his bedroom door, sighed and turned to face Maka. _How could I stay mad at her, especially when she's actually sorry and looking at me with those eyes._

"It's cool, don't worry about it."

"Well is it true? Do you _like_ someone?"

_x

_This is the moment of truth. But what will I do if he does like someone? Chances are it won't be me, I think I could handle it if he isn't interested in anyone, I might have a chance._

"Well is it true? Do you _like_ someone?" Maka's heart was pounding, she had only consciously had feelings for Soul for about an hour now, but somehow it felt like she'd felt this way forever.

"Are you going to pester me for hours if I say I do?" _ Damn._ Maka kept herself outwardly composed while she fell apart inside. _Damn. Damn, damn, damn, why god? Why?_

"Alrighty, no pestering." She made the 'lip-zip' gesture and went back to the kitchen to clean up, anything to distract her mind.

_x

Tuesday morning in Death City started just like any other for the love-struck partners. Maka had been silent all morning and Soul had the feeling he'd done something to piss her off, which pissed him off because he hadn't done anything wrong. The pair stood before the notice board covered in Missions for Shibusen students, not speaking, looking for any missions that sparked their interest.

"Maka! Soul! You're wanted in the Death room." Kim, a girl from their class, came running up to the pair, and came to a halt panting in front of them.

"Did you get told _why_ we need to go to the Death room?" Maka asked quizzically.

"Something about a new mission with Black Star and Tsubaki, I think Sid said something about London." Maka couldn't believe their luck.

"Thank's Kim, see you later." Maka gave Soul a look, half of excitement, half of despair. There was a distance between the two, and neither of them were particularly happy as they made their way to the Death room to receive their new assignment.

* * *

><p><strong>I tried to make this one a little longer for you guys, hope you enjoyed it :)<strong>


	4. London Disaster

**Take Me Away Tonight**

London Disaster

It was night time in London when the two pairs of partners arrived, making their way to London bridge, which was at this time of night deserted. Snow started to fall and the ever caring Tsubaki became worried about the frigid cold and Black Star's lack of weather appropriate clothing.

"Hellooo London, Black Star has arrived. YAHOO!" Black Star screamed out for the sleeping city to ignore.

"It's snowing, aren't you freezing?" Tsubaki turned to see her meister doing stretches to warm up and keep his hyperactive mind occupied.

"Who cares about snow? Snow can't touch me, I could be naked out here and it wouldn't bother me at all." Tsubaki cringed a little at the last comment. Maka huffed, clearly not in the mood for Black Star's antics. While travelling, Maka and Soul had drifted further apart for no good reason, each of them inwardly being pissed off at the other. Maka was annoyed because she knew Soul had feelings for someone else; Soul noticed Maka being annoyed and was pissed at her because her annoyance seemed to be directed at him for no apparent reason, this made him irritable and hard to deal with, which in turn pissed Maka off further. All of this escalated until they were both silently seething.

"Hey you two, would you come take a look at this? It's so beautiful at night don't you think? Yay London." Tsubaki's failed attempt at livening up the moody pair was shot down with a synchronised huff from both irritable teens as they turned away from each other, stubbornly refusing to meet each other's eyes.

"What's with them?" Came the confused voice of Black Star, more to himself than anyone, knowing that neither of them would be willing to talk about whatever was making them act so stupid. Black Star's short attention span then turned to the mission at hand. "Anyway Maka, I can't detect souls, so this one's up to you; tell us what you see."

"I'm on it." Maka was grateful for the topic change, wanting to get the mission over with as quickly as possible. "Okay, let's see." She closed her eyes, focusing for a few seconds before snapping her eyes open again in surprise. "There's one right there." Everyone turned their attention to the man in prisoner's garb complete with a ball and chain attached at the ankle.

"Hey, you're right, what does that dude want?" Clearly Black Star wasn't entirely switched on, no one in prison garb stalks a group of promising weapons and meisters without having bad intentions.

"I don't know, something's wrong with his soul; it's not normal, there's a bunch of stuff all mixed together, some human, some witch and I'm sensing something else too." Maka's uncertainty added a level of tension to the group's collective feelings.

"Here you are." The strange man spoke.

"This guy wants a fight." Black Star was overly excited about showing of his new technique, and eager for a fight.

"Be careful though, he can probably use magic." Maka's warnings fell on deaf ears.

"Tsubaki, enchanted sword mode, let's finish this guy off quickly." Tsubaki was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of using her newly acquired 'enchanted sword' form, Black Star could only last a few seconds before the conflicting with their soul wavelengths caused him to pass out.

"But you still can't handle that one."

"I just have to last for a few seconds, let's go." Determination filled Tsubaki as she transformed into her sword form; Black Star caught her in the air in a skilful display of sword handling.

"Let's go, soul resonance!" He called then resonating with Tsubaki, this was their only shot, after a few seconds Black Star would pass out, so they had to make this count. "London Bridge is falling down dude." Black Star's 'witty' battle cry as he charged at the man.

"Ice cone!" The man made a gesture with his hands, causing an ice cone to emerge from the ground, intending on spearing Black Star, but with Tsubaki's new form came new techniques and she stopped the cone with her shadow wrapping around it.

"How about a taste of my new technique, Shadow Staarrr-" Too late, Black Star had wasted too much time and passed out face first in the snow, Tsubaki instantly transformed back to human form to try and wake her fallen meister. Thankfully the man wasn't interested in Tsubaki or Black Star, but rather Maka and Soul.

"Now then, who's next?" The man diverted his attention from the unconscious moron and turned to face Maka, only to find Soul had transformed his arm into a blade and had stuck it through the man's chest.

"You shouldn't drop your guard like that mister." Came Soul's cocky comment, pleased he had taken down an enemy without needing Maka's assistance. Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Maka could tell something was wrong, the man should have fallen to the ground by now, but there he stood, calm as ever.

"No, Soul get out of there!" Maka's cry took Soul by surprise, but he immediately jumped back.

"It happens a lot, fortunately I can afford to let my guard down." This irked the pair, who were put even more on edge when they saw his wound close up before their eyes.

"His Wound it's closing up." Half in disbelief, Maka needed something to confirm she wasn't seeing things.

"What else would it do? I am immortal." That was the nail in the coffin, how could they possibly fight an immortal? "Maybe it would help if you could see my true form."

"What do you mean your true form." Soul didn't want to believe what he was seeing, the man before them contorted his form until he became what resembled a wolf. A wolf man.

"I know who he is now, we've run into the legendary wolf man; now Soul, it's time to transform."

"Yeah." With that, Soul changed to his weapon form, a scythe, landing smoothly in Maka's hands as she twirled him 'round, displaying her mastery of the weapon; but before she could attack, Maka's hands began to burn. Something was wrong, Soul's handle shouldn't _burn_, it's usually the same temperature as her body due to their synced soul wavelengths. She dropped Soul onto the icy ground, shocked by the burns to her hands.

"What are you doing?" Came the irritated voice of Soul, clearly unhappy at being dropped, Maka hadn't dropped him in years so why would she now?

"Your handle's too hot, I can't hold you." Soul noticed her singed gloves.

_So difficult to breathe; how do I breathe again? Just inhale and exhale, right? And how do I use my weapon?_ This revelation, of their souls not being in sync, had Maka in a state of shock, not knowing what to do she just stood there dumbfounded. But the wolf man wasn't keen on waiting; he saw his opening and punched Maka square in the chest, sending her flying backwards into an ice pillar he summoned.

"MAKA!" Soul turned back to his human form as the wolf man took a kick aimed at Maka's head, she dodged, but his ball and chain it the ice pillar causing chunks of ice to go flying through the air, one hitting Soul in the head, knocking him unconscious. Wolf man kicked Maka with his other foot, sending her flying once again to the other side of the wide bridge, giving him enough time to pick up Soul's unconscious form.

"Too bad I can't take you, you've got fighting spirit, something I'm sure _she_ would like, but unfortunately I'm under strict orders to only collect _weapons_ and then only those who can fight without the aid of a meister." _He's taking Soul?_

"Maka! Quick, use me and stop him!" Tsubaki's words didn't reach Maka, all she could think was that this wolf man was taking Soul away somewhere and she may never see him again. And before she even had time to register Tsubaki's offer, the wolf man and Soul were gone into the night.

_He took Soul._

_What will that man do to him?_

_He took Soul._

_I might never see him again._

_He took Soul._

_I'll never tell him how I feel._

_He took my soul._

_x

Soul slowly regained consciousness; he could feel his body moving, as if someone were carrying him with little regard for his actual comfort. He could taste damp, stale air with every breath._ Am I in a cave or something?_ And then he heard voices.

"Medusa, I have another one, the boy you requested." Soul had the feeling that he knew that voice, but couldn't place who it came from. The movement he felt before stopped as the man carrying him stood still.

"Excellent Free, take him to the room, I'll meet you in there when it is time."

"Yes ma'am ." And the movement started up again. _This can't be good; should I try escape? No, I have no idea where I am, I'll most likely be caught before I find the exit._ The bumpy movement of his captor slowed and stopped, Soul felt himself being lifted from over the man's shoulder and placed, or rather dropped, onto a metal chair, then strapped to it. _Fuck, what next? I get tortured 'till I go insane?_ "You awake yet snow white?" The man spoke in a teasing voice which triggered the memories of Soul's last few conscious minutes before waking in this hell; it all came back, the fight, the wolf man, Maka being in danger, the chunk of ice hurtling strait at his head, too fast to comprehend properly at the time, then nothing. _Maka, she was in danger; did they do something to her? Did she get captured as well?_

"M-Maka." Soul's voice was hoarse after not speaking for god knows how long and the sound was hardly louder than a whisper. He tried again. "Maka."

"Huh? You spoke? Heh, well if you're wondering about that meister of yours, she's alive and well, I left her on the bridge with your other friends. You won't be seeing any of them for a while though; but don't worry about missing them, soon you won't even remember them. _What? Not remember them? It's not possible, I can't live without Maka, how am I supposed to survive if I don't remember her?_ There was silence as Soul took in what he just heard, he opened his eyes for the first time since waking up, he wasn't pretending to be unconscious anymore, but he saw nothing, he must have been blindfolded. There was a sound, the sound of a door opening and heels clicking on stone.

"Is he awake yet?" The same voice from before spoke, an excited tone in her words.

"Yes my lady, he is ready." The blindfold was removed; the sudden light blinded Soul temporarily until his eyes adjusted. Looking around he was in a plain room, it appeared to be carved out stone, there was nothing in the room except what looked like a metal helmet.

"Excellent, then we shall begin." A deranged smile etched onto her face, Medusa took the helmet from its stand and placed it on Soul's head, he took a moment to take in her appearance, tall, blonde hair which is spiky at the back with two long strands which met in a braid under her neck. "Don't worry boy, this won't hurt; well it won't hurt me anyway." She cackled, pleased at her little joke. She flicked a little switch on the helmet and then there was pain. Nothing but pain, it was all Soul could feel or think, just excruciating pain, nothing else mattered. Before long the pain overtook his mind and he could remember nothing but the pain, this pain was his whole life and based on that, he thought the pain would never end; but it did, the pain subsided and a woman with blonde hair spiked at the back and a plait below her face looked at him with warm motherly eyes. "Hello dear." She cooed. _Who is she? Where am I? ...Who am I?_ "Oh, you seem confused, don't worry everyone is after an experience like that, but don't worry, I will make sure you never have to endure anything like that again." He still didn't know who this woman was, but he felt eternally grateful to her, after all she did save him from the eternal pain that is his whole life.

"Who are you?" The woman smiled warmly at him and he smiled back. She sat next to him on the bed. _Bed?_ He had never seen or laid on a bed before, but somehow he knew what it was and its purpose.

"I am Medusa, I am a witch." Something told him he should fear her because of her being a 'witch' but how could he fear such a sweet woman who had saved him.

"Who am I?" The question seemed stupid, but he needed to know.

"You? Are you referring to your name? You don't have one, you can choose one yourself." She smiled at him with understanding, he liked this woman, she seemed like a mother to him.

"I'm... Uh..." He thought for a minute. _If I'm going to choose a name, I want it to be a good one._  
><em>'You awake yet Snow White?<br>_A distant memory of a voice drifted through his thoughts, the words seemed to have been directed at him. _Snow White... It must be a reference to my white hair._ He didn't know how he knew the colour of his hair, he had never seen it before, but like the bed he just knew it without knowing why. "I'll call myself 'Snow'." A smile crept upon the newly dubbed 'Snow's face, pleased with his choice he turned to Medusa for approval.

"Well chosen Snow." Snow liked how his new name sounded, especially from this woman who he held in such high esteem. One thing hung in his mind now that he had a name, he still lacked an _identity_; he had a name, but no life or achievements to pin it to.

"Miss Medusa?" Snow said her name in caution, unsure whether or not she would find it rude for this boy whom barely knew her had called her by her first name; but what else could he call her? That's all he knew her by.

"Yes dear?" She smiled down at him just as tenderly as before, this calmed Snow slightly.

"Why am I here? What is my purpose?" Medusa's smile widened at hearing this.

"I hoped you would ask, you see I saved you from your life of torture so you could help me with a little something; you see there is an academy, a school that teaches students to hunt down witches like me, they are the reason for your previous pain. This school you see, is a great evil and I need people like you who I can trust to help me dispose of this evil. Do you think you could help me, you are free to leave and live your life if you do not wish to do so." Snow knew immediately that he could not leave this woman in her time of need, he also wanted vengeance for the insane pain he suffered before Medusa saved him.

"Tell me more." An excited expression tinted Snow's face.

"This academy is called the DWMA, they train weapons and their meisters in combat to kill people like me. You, my dear Snow, are a weapon, a very special weapon who can fight competently without a meister, with some training, you could be a great asset to my _family_."

"I'm a weapon? How is that possible, I thought I was human? And what Family?"

"Child, you are a human-weapon, with some practice you could easily change your form to that of a weapon. And as for our family, well there are many young weapons who I have saved from a life of pain and have decided to join forces with me; but don't think of us as an army, I care for all you young weapons are like I would my own children."

"When can I start this training?" An eager Snow sat strait and attentive, eyes imploring Medusa to get him started as soon as possible, he wanted vengeance for what the pain he suffered and the DWMA's plans for Medusa, who he concluded was the sweetest most loving woman you could hope to meet.

"You can start right now my child, just wash up in the bathroom through that door and there will be a change of clothes on the bed for when you get out, this is now your room by the way. I will be waiting for you outside, just come through when you're done." Medusa's unwavering motherly smile never left her lips as she left Snow to bathe.

"Miss Medusa? Thank you, for all you've done for me." Snow was sincere in his thanks, he had never felt loved as he did now.

"It's no trouble at all child, now hurry along." And with that she left the room, Snow opened the door which Medusa had told him would take him to the bathroom, it was simple enough, plain white tiles, a white vanity with a mirror, toilet and shower-bath. Snow sighed in content and got undressed; he caught his reflection in the mirror and noticed a large scar running diagonally across his chest. _I wonder how I got that? I'm sure I would remember something like that, although as far as I can remember my only life has been blinding pain, so maybe I wouldn't have noticed. I guess I'll ask Medusa later._ He moved to the shower, started the water and got in.

After bathing, Snow found clothes neatly folded on the end of his bed, just as Medusa had promised. They were black and white, black jeans, black shoes, a white top and a black jacket with white sleeves. There were a few of the same items, clearly this was like some form of uniform, there were also pyjama items and a small stack of clean underwear. Snow like how the outfit looked on him and made his way to the corridor outside where he saw Medusa, leaning against a wall, waiting for him.

"Done?" Her warm smile was stuck on her face as usual.

"Yes ma'am." Snow smiled and walked over to where Medusa stood.

"Then I'll take you to the training area, I'll teach you all you need to know." They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Medusa?"

"Yes child?"

"Why does the DWMA want to kill witches, you're a lovely lady, I can't understand why anyone would want to hurt you."

"Well, my child, the DWMA have very twisted priorities, they believe that because we're different to them that witches are a threat."

"Oh, and Medusa? I noticed a large scar across my chest; do you know where it's from?" Medusa's featured hardened, turning grim.

"That, my dear, was the work of the DWMA, one of their students used you as a human shield to block a very strong attack, selfish child she is, not a care for your safety, just wanted to make sure she survived." Shaking her head in shame. "Such an awful person she is, hell bent on becoming more and more powerful. No time for that though, it's time for you to begin your training." They had arrived as a set of double doors, which when opened lead outside to an open area surrounded by trees. "What do you think of our training facility?"

"Perfect." A sly, malicious smile took over Snow's features. The time had come, this was the first step towards revenge for all his pain.

_x

Maka sat on the couch in Black Star and Tsubaki's lounge room; she couldn't bear to stay in her own apartment, it held too many memories of Soul. Not like a change of accommodation changed anything, Maka was silent; she hadn't spoken a word since she, along with Black Star and Tsubaki, had reported the night's events to Lord Death and requested from Tsubaki that she crash at their place that night.

'_The enemy was an immortal, the infamous wolf man, there was no way we could have taken him; he just brushed us all aside with ease and then- then he.' Maka broke into a fit of sobs and hiccups  
>'He took Soul, Sir.' Tsubaki finished the sentence for her.<br>'We'll send out a search party, I recommend you three stay here and recover, we will let you know if we find anything.' Lord Death was unusually sombre.  
>'Thank you sir.' Tsubaki addressed the reaper and supported a blubbering Maka out of the Death Room.<em>

The scene ran over and over through Maka's head, and when she wasn't thinking of her breakdown in the Death Room, she was mentally reliving the moment Soul was abducted. Torturously, she kept thinking of possible ways she could have stopped the wolf man from taking Soul away, punishing herself mentally every time wondering why she once again wasn't strong enough to protect him. _If I had been focusing and registered Tsubaki's offer, I could have stopped him. Why didn't I stop him. Why couldn't I do anything? I'm so stupid and so weak; this is all my fault. And now he's gone.  
>He's gone.<br>He's gone._

Maka burst into yet another round of tears; what else could she do, all she had to do now was wait and hope, hope that the search squad would bring Soul back to her, alive and well.

Days passed and still no word from the search squad, Maka rarely moved from the couch, it was as if she had partially shut down, she ate only small portions of food and only left the couch only to use the bathroom and wash up. She was hollow, Tsubaki had attempted to start a conversation a few times but gave up, Maka didn't want to talk, she just wanted to sleep, sleep until she woke up to find this was all just a horrible, horrible dream.

It was a whole week before they heard back from the search squad, or rather what remained of it. They had been attacked by an army of rouge weapons, all in similar black and white uniforms; one of them resembled Soul, though it was difficult to get close enough to tell without getting killed. Regardless of whether or not it was Soul, they were angry and powerful and heading for the DWMA. For the safety of Death City residents, all students willing to go into battle against the weapon army were given instructions to meet them closer to their 'base'.  
>Even though Maka was currently weapon-less, her soul perception ability was a valuable tool in any battle and was brought along to assist with locating the army of crazed weapons.<p>

And so it was, hundreds of capable fighters were sent out in squads to eliminate the army, Maka's squad in the lead. _Please Soul, hold on just a while, I swear I'm coming to save you._

_x

"Snow, you've made excellent progress, your contribution to the battle against those DWMA spies was excellent; I'm very proud." The now familiar smile of Medusa shone down on Snow, who responded with an equally warm smile of his own.  
>Medusa was not as pleased with Snow's progress as she pretended to be, she had hoped that his infection of black blood would make him a powerful asset as it had for Crona and Ragnarok, but she was mistaken. Snow was by no means an autonomous weapon, while he could perform simple attacks alone, he required a meister to reach his full potential. And if it's a meister that Medusa's next experiment needs, a meister he shall get.<p>

"I did what was necessary, they needed to be taken out." Snow was beyond pleased to be receiving praise from Medusa.

"Though I fear there is a large battle on the horizon, the DWMA will not take the death of their spies so lightly, they will return in great numbers; and there is a special mission which I have decided _you_ will be best suited for."

"Anything for you." Snow's adoration had grown over the past week, so much so that he now saw Medusa as a mother figure, much like his many '_siblings'_.

"There is this one meister, she has an amazing ability to sense souls, it's very sensitive and would be an excellent asset, something we _need_ to take from the DWMA scum; I'm trusting you to go out and collect her, bring her to _the room_."

"What if she refuses to cooperate with us? She is a DWMA student after all."

"If she refuses to cooperate, you kill her, simple. If she will not work with us, we cannot allow her to serve the DWMA, she would pose too much of a threat." Medusa pulled a sheet of paper from her pocket, unfolded it and presented it to Snow. "This is the girl we want." Looking at the image printed on the paper, Snow memorised the image of the girl; ash-blonde hair styled in pig tails, olive green eyes, pale complexion, underdeveloped in the breast area, and a happy yet determined look on her face. Snow had a feeling it would be difficult to convince her to join their side, he felt slight remorse thinking of having to kill this girl, he found her somewhat attractive; but she was still DWMA scum, he would be happy to shed her blood if need be.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you guys liked this chapter, it's not based on any part of the song as you can tell by a lack of lyrics at the top, it's sort of a bridge connecting two verses. Also I'm not so pleased with the first part, I copied it from the actual episode where they fight Free so it doesn't really feel like my work; but hey, plot twists! Everyone loves a good twist :D<strong>


	5. Just In Time

**Take Me Away Tonight**

Just In Time

_Amber Lynn, you've got me wishing for the stars tonight,  
>And I've been messed up, but oh you got here just in time,<br>You saved my life and I don't ever think I'll find the words to say,  
>Amber Lynn, I've got three days to keep away.<em>

Snow sat on a horizontal section of one of the massive arrow shapes which wound around Medusa's castle decoratively, binoculars in hand, waiting out of sight for his target to arrive. His instructions were strait forward; take the girl, try convince her to change sides and if she resists, kill her. Snow was completely accustomed to killing by now, Medusa had trained him on small animals, slowly working up to larger creatures until he took his first human life when the DWMA spies came close to their territory.  
>In the distance he could faintly see what looked like ants combing through the strangely bare trees that made up the forest surrounding the castle. <em>Won't be long now.<em> Snow was gleeful, the day he had been training so hard for was finally here and there was an abundance of DWMA scum for him to exterminate. _Such a shame, I miss out on all the action soon as I find that girl; though Medusa chose me for this special mission, surely succeeding at this will please her more than killing a hundred of the corrupted scum. After all it's important we take the girl from the enemy, she's too valuable to leave with them. _He put the binoculars to his eyes and focused on the advancing enemy, they were still too far away to identify any of them, Snow would be waiting a while yet.

_x

Maka could see the oddly shaped castle in the distance, it was shaped almost like a vase and had winding arrows caressing it, it was strange and didn't look all that liveable. Maka used her soul perception to get them this close, she had focused on Soul's soul wavelength and had tracked it to the strange building in the distance; he was in there somewhere and Maka would not rest until she found him and brought him back home.  
>The first squad, Maka's squad was in charge of locating the hideout and once that was done, they were given instructions to wait within the forest, set up medical tents and wait for the rest of Shibusen's forces to catch up to them; then they would attack together. Everyone knew the dangers this battle would pose, they were fighting an army of rouge weapons, possibly kishin eggs, and it was suspected that a witch was behind it all. There would be casualties and they had to be prepared to care for the injured, hence the medical tents.<p>

Maka could sense the souls of the DWMA's forces behind her, they had almost caught up; the battle would start soon. Seeing as she was currently weaponless, Maka was to help giving aid to anyone injured during battle, she was going to miss out on the battle and would have to stay back in the hopes that someone would find Soul for her and bring him back.

She heard Black Star's squad before she saw it.  
>"YAHOO! Time to kick some serious ass; WOOH!" Black Star came bounding up next to Maka, holding Tsubaki in her signature chain scythe form, fully prepared for battle. Standing beside Maka, Black Star took on a much more serious front, looking out at the castle as he spoke. "Maka, I know this must be hard for you, but hang in there; finding Soul is my first priority and I swear to you that I will get him back." It's truly amazing how quickly Black Star can change his attitude; although he is usually a headstrong arrogant person, he can when necessary take on a serious persona and at times can even be a voice of reason and concern. Clearly this was a <em>very<em> rare event that Black Star was ever like this and it usually didn't last long, in all the time Maka had known Black Star (almost all her life) she had only seen this side to him a maximum of three times.  
>They stood together for a while, staring out at the castle before them. "Heh, everyone else has finally decided to catch up, time to shine." Black Star took off with little regard for the given orders, an anticipatory smile plastered on his face. <em>I'm counting on you Black Star, please bring Soul back, please let him come back safely.<em>

The attack began.

_x

Through the binoculars Snow could see what looked like a camp set up just within the cover of the trees, a few students were setting things up. _Must be a medical area; they'll need it._ Snow looked over the site again and noticed others approaching from behind, reinforcements; one student stood out from the rest as he came bolting to the tree line halting next to a girl he hadn't noticed earlier, the pair stood there for a few minutes, Snow recognised the girl as the one he had to acquire, she appeared solemn, almost depressed. He almost felt sorry for the girl, almost. _Is she one of the medical team? Must be, she doesn't seem to have a partner with her, that boy has a weapon so they can't be partners. This makes things easy, I just have to get around the battle field and take her while no one is paying attention, great._ Snow was greatly pleased with how effortless his plan was, and watched as DWMA students filed out of the forest and his own family of tortured souls made their way out of the castle's main entrance to meet them on the extensive field expanding from the front of the castle. Partially transformed, Snow's adoptive siblings began the attack; this was Snow's cue to begin his mission. He made his way down the spiralling column and around the side of the massive castle, into the woods and towards his objective.

Ten minutes into his trek and Snow could see through the trees that the DWMA and his own family were almost evenly matched, the battle raged and blood was shed on both sides; he closed in on the area he knew would hold the girl, crouching low to the ground Snow observed his prey going about her business, looking somewhat vacant in doing so. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked up in the direction of Snow's hiding spot, seeing nothing she went back to work shaking her head as if to rid herself of a thought. _Now or never._ Snow crept out from behind the large tree he had been using as shelter from unwanted attention and silently snuck into the supply tent waiting for the girl to return. He didn't have to wait long; she opened the flaps which served as a door, took one look at Snow and collapsed to her knees.

"Soul?" She sounded delusional, staring at him with hopeful eyes. _Why is she looking at me like that? And what is she talking about; 'soul'?_ He stared down at her with cold eyes, her expression changed from one of hope to that of disappointment. "Mind playing tricks on me, stupid, stupid, stupid." She muttered to herself. Snow took a step towards her, she showed no resistance so he took another, and another until he stood above her, Snow looked around the room, seeing a bottle of chloroform and a cloth. _Could this get any easier?_ He took the items from the bench they stood on and applied the chloroform to the cloth; the girl didn't stir. _Not very bright is she?_ Snow brought the dampened cloth to the girl's face, her eyes widened in horror at realising what was happening, but before she could react she was out cold. Snow took her unconscious body in his arms and placed her over his shoulder, starting the trek back to the castle.

_x

_What a wonderful dream, Soul was there, and I was so happy; but then something happened, I can't quite remember what it was... _Maka opened her eyes to find herself in a room of grey stone, strapped into a metal chair. Panic took hold of her and it took every ounce of control not to give into the instinct to scream. That's when she noticed the figure in the corner, leaning against the wall with his usual 'too cool for this' posture.

"Soul."

"There you go again, talking about 'soul', what are you on about?" Horror; that was the next thing Maka felt, this was definitely Soul, she would recognise his soul wavelength anywhere. _Why did he not respond to his own name?_

"Soul; your name, remember silly?" Maka tried to sound light hearted but there was no disguising how scared she really was.

"My name is Snow, I've never heard of this 'Soul' before. What is your name?" His cold tone cut Maka deeper than the words themselves. _He doesn't... remember? He doesn't know me, he doesn't know his own name. This is wrong, this can't be real, I'm dreaming. I- this can't be happening._

"Soul-" Her voice cracked as tears threatened to reveal themselves. "You don't remember me? I'm Maka, I'm your meister, please Soul, you have to remember me?" Salty tears spilled from her eyes as Maka saw no recognition in Soul's eyes, only a cold look, it hurt to see him; she turned from his gaze.

"You? My meister? I've never had a meister, and my name is Snow. I was sent to retrieve you because Medusa sees you as a valuable asset to our family, I'm here to try convince you to join us." _He's working with a witch?_

"Tying me to a chair isn't exactly what I would call a warm welcome." Maka spat, angry with the world for what was happening, and at herself for not being able to prevent this.

"Oh, sorry, you're right." For the first time since meeting this new Soul, or Snow as he called himself, Maka saw actual emotion lace his features; judging from that, he meant no real harm. He undid the straps holding her to the chair.

"That's better, now care to explain to me exactly why I'm here." Maka figured that Soul was somehow very trusted by the witch, and that she may as well get some information out of him while she was here.

"The DWMA, your kind, although you may not see it, are evil; they hunt down innocent women like Medusa just because they are witches. This is why we must destroy them, and you were selected to be spared on the condition that you join our forces. I've been told you have extraordinary soul perception, and Medusa sees this as a valuable asset and wishes for you to join our family. With us you can help end the injustice of the DWMA." Soul appeared to be enthusiastic about his mission.

"And if I disagree?" Curiously, Maka questioned her options, standing up from the uncomfortable chair, facing Soul.

"I kill you." _What? He can't seriously be okay with killing me? This is insane._

"S-so, you're saying I can either join you, or die?" Voice shaking with fear, Maka needed to know if he was serious; he was.

"Yes." The stern, cold expression from before took over Soul's features once again. Maka collapsed, the effects of chloroform combined with the threat of death by the hand of the one she loved weakened her legs; she hit the floor and curled up in the foetal position tears streaming from her eyes. The past week had weakened her usually steely strong resolve to the point where she almost couldn't function, this stress hit her hard and in her weakened state, she couldn't stop herself, she cried, great loud sobs escaping her mouth as streams of tears collected in a puddle around her face.

The Soul she knew was gone and the man standing in his place, Snow, showed little concern for the emotionally fragile girl.

_NO! I will not let it end like this! I am Maka Albarn, daughter of Kami and Spirit Albarn, one of the strongest weapon-meister teams ever to come out of Death's academy! I will NOT let this be the end, I WILL bring Soul back!_ An old fire reignited in Maka's soul and her old fighting spirit was back, not completely, she was still somewhat hollow, but her usual strength was there.

"Soul."

"I told you my name is not 'Soul', it's Snow." Maka could feel his icy glare penetrating her head, she slowly pulled herself up.

"Soul." This time there was more strength to her voice as she stood, hunched over from her still weak body.

"Snow, my name is _Snow_." He was beginning to get frustrated, Maka could tell, he may have lost all recollection of who he was, but underneath he was still the same Soul.

"Soul." She stood strait, finally mustering the strength to hold herself properly. "Your name is soul, I am your meister, you are my weapon." She took a step towards him, standing face to face with him; or rather looking up at his face, but the effect was the same, her determination-fuelled dominance overpowered Soul and he simply stood there looking down at the girl, almost wanting to hear what she had to say. "We met five years ago, you were playing the piano, a piece you composed yourself. You love to play and are an amazing composer, but fail to see it yourself." Strength and determination filled Maka's eyes as she looked deeper into Soul's.

"I've never seen or touched a piano before."

"LIES! Medusa has fed you lies. We live together in an apartment in Death City, near the academy where we both go to school, your best friend is Black Star and you have an orange motorcycle which is your pride and joy, you never pay attention in class and rely on me for notes, your favourite nickname for me is either bookworm or tiny tits, last time you insulted me like that I hit you in the head so hard you passed out and when you came to, you found me crying on the roof top and you apologised and made me feel better; because that's who you are, Soul, you're the coolest guy I know, and the only man I've ever trusted and I love you." Never pausing for a breath, Maka threw herself at Soul, kissing him with enough raging passion to burn down Death City. At first there was no response from Soul, he just stood there, frozen in place; but then something clicked, he kissed her back with equal passion, returning her embrace. He lifted her slightly and turned pushing her against the wall, Soul pulled away to look Maka in the eyes.

"Maka." A smile crept upon Maka's face which made Soul smile, just as wide, displaying a set of sharp white teeth.

"Soul! Is it really you? Are you really back?" Maka couldn't believe what had just happened, hadn't even realised her actions until now; she had acted impulsively, something she was careful to avoid at all costs, but she didn't care at the moment, self scolding could come later, all that mattered was that _her_ Soul was back.

"Maka I- I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, I-" Soul's apology was cut off by Maka.

"SHH! You can explain later, right now we need to get out, if you hadn't noticed, we're somewhere in the middle of a witches hideout and I was unconscious on the way in so I have no idea where we are."

"I do."

"What?"

"I said I do, I know where we are, I'm the one who brought you here remember." A guilty look of sorrow filled Soul's face as he seemed to recall his time spent with Medusa. It was then that Soul finally pulled away from Maka's arms and away from the wall. Maka was unfazed by what Soul had said, seeing the upside of the situation.

"So you remember everything from when you were 'Snow'?" The shame evident on Soul's face furthered and he looked downright miserable.

"Yes." He looked away, not wanting to meet Maka's gaze; but she didn't care, they now had a way out safely. Then she remembered the battle. _Is everyone still fighting?_

"What time is it?" Maka's face was now full of concern, she no longer cared about getting out, but rather what was happening beyond the safety of the castle's walls.

"I, uh, don't know, there aren't really any clocks around here." Soul seemed to have caught onto what she was thinking and was equally concerned.

"Guess we'd better go out and check." Maka smiled a fake smile of encouragement. "We'd best be prepared in case there are some of Medusa's soldiers roaming around, quick, transform, I wanna get out of here soon as possible." Soul nodded in agreement before transforming into a scythe, Maka had missed the feeling of holding Soul, of his warmth, and the sensation of his soul wavelength pulsing through her veins along with her blood; they were completely in sync, it was like they had never had their little scuffle.  
>Testing herself, Maka twirled Soul with ease, confidence setting in she opened the grey nondescript door and stepped outside.<p>

"So far so good, but be careful Maka, there could be soldiers anywhere." Soul's voice reached her emanating from his scythe form.

"Gotchya, which way?"

"Go right and continue that way until you come into a large open room, there will be a stone arena in the middle consisting of uneven stone blocks, that's the foyer."

"Okay." Maka lightly jogged down the lengthy corridor, constantly alert in case an enemy was about them, she made it to the 'foyer' with no trouble and looked to Soul for further direction. "Where to now?"

"Across the foyer there are three doors, we want the one on the left, the other two lead to underground tunnels." A determined scowl crossed Maka's face as she jumped down from the stone floor of the corridor onto a block set against the wall; springing effortlessly from block to block, Maka found herself at the other side of the strange foyer and opened the door on her left.  
>She had expected many things, but was not expecting to see Black Star standing right at the threshold preparing to kick the door in.<p>

"GAHH!" Maka jumped back startled, Black Star just stood there grinning like an idiot.

"MAKA! YOU ARE SAFE, NOT TO WORRY, THE GREAT BLACK STAR WILL NOW ASSIST YOU IN YOUR SEARCH FOR SOulll... Soul? YOU FOUND SOUL!" Black Star's self-centred heroic enthusiasm turned into immense surprise at the sight of his best friend, he was shocked, and for once, speechless.

"I knew you would find him Maka; it's so great that you did." Tsubaki's voice was heard from her chain scythe form.

"What Tsubaki means is that we're happy to have our couch back, seeing as you won't be living on it anymore." Black Star was completely oblivious to the embarrassment he had just caused Maka, who had no intention of letting Soul know she had a mental breakdown and didn't leave Black Star and Tsubaki's couch for about a week.

"You were living on their couch? Do I want to know?" Soul was half amused, half sceptical at this news.

"You probably do, knowing you; but now isn't really the time, Black Star, where is everyone?" Now that the reunion was over, Maka noticed for the first time that the field behind Black Star was vacant.

"We captured a bunch of the rouges and once we had a large number of them captive, the rest retreated, pleading for help from the witch who cast them aside seeing as they had failed to destroy us. Anyway, she disappeared, the leftovers ran off too, and most of the squads have begun to move back, except us of course, we stayed back to find you guys." Black Star's battle report amazingly lacked any exaggerated heroics from him. _Maybe this battle had a humbling effect on him?_

"Who is 'us'?" Maka asked, curious to know who had stayed to rescue them.

"You know, Kidd, Liz, Patty, Tsubaki and me of course, did you really think I, the great Black Star would abandon you in your time of need, a great man like me never leaves a friend behind. _Nope, still the same egocentric, god-complex maniac._

"I don't think that's the last we'll hear of Medusa." Soul's voice was ominously sombre, breaking through the light atmosphere. "She has a real bone to pick with the DWMA and seems to stop at nothing." He added. The group's mood became grave, they all knew he was right; Medusa had used humans as pawns in her plans and cast them aside the moment they failed. She clearly held little value for human life. Maka broke the silence.

"We should get going, this place is starting to irk me. Where's Kidd?" Black Star looked behind him and stepped aside for Maka and Soul to see; Kidd lay on the ground, the Tompson sisters on either side of him, trying to wake their meister, a trickle of blood ran from his nose. Clearly Kidd had taken one look at the asymmetrical castle and collapsed from the immense lack of symmetry. _Poor guy, he would be a perfect fighter if it wasn't for the crippling OCD._ Liz and Patty looked up and saw Maka with Soul, forgetting their eccentric meister, they ran to the pair, Patty opting to pounce on Maka, giving her the most restricting bear hug of her life.

"Yay! Maka and Soul are okay!" The overexcited weapon finally released Maka from her death grip.

"Patty, you almost killed the poor girl!" Liz lightly scolded her younger sister who didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, this is great and all, but I would _really_ like to get home guys." Maka once again speaking up about her dislike of the place.

"Follow me! I, the amazing Black Star shall lead you from this place of evil!" Black Star took off marching, Tsubaki transformed back to her human form and chased after him.

"I guess we're not really in danger anymore, you can change back now if you like, unless you're too lazy to walk." Maka joked about the last part, but part of her wanted to be able to carry Soul, wanting to be in contact with him for a little while longer. Soul transformed to human, and lifted Maka onto his back.

"You're the one who should be getting carried; after all, I kind of owe you." A smile showed on Maka's lips as a light blush marked her cheeks. Soul stepped forward and Maka suddenly realised she had to cling on if she didn't want to fall off. The Tompsons' woke Kidd and the group finally headed home to Death City.  
>Soon Maka began to drift off to sleep; completely comfortable nestled on Soul's back. Soul noticed her grip loosening and transferred her to his front, not without some difficulty, carrying her bridal style the rest of the way back while she slept.<p> 


	6. White Horse

**Take Me Away Tonight**

White Horse

_Amber Lynn, I've got three days to keep away,  
>I've been waiting on this white horse, oh for all these days,<br>Amber Lynn, you've got me all wrong,  
>Sweet love of mine, bring me closer to that Florida line,<br>Amber Lynn won't you be mine,  
>And take me away tonight.<br>Take me away tonight._

"Hmm, this witch seems very dangerous, is there anything else you can tell us about her Soul?" Lord Death had an attentive air about him, definitely a bad sign when discussing a potentially dangerous enemy.

"No Sir, she didn't tell anyone much about herself, just her name, no one questioned her. Sorry." Soul stood hunched over, ashamed of not having anything else to present the reaper with.

"Quite alright Soul, all that matters at the moment is that you're alive and safely back home; you will of course need to visit the infirmary for a check up, you might not be physically unwell, but a witch could easily have implanted spying devices." The mood in the room lightened slightly, but not enough to completely ease the tension as Maka and Soul stood before Lord Death, Stein and Spirit in the Death Room; giving any information that may be useful to track and kill this witch.

"If that's all we're needed for in here, we'll leave for the infirmary now." Maka announced their departure and Lord Death responded, bright and chipper as usual.

"Alrighty, off you go, get some rest two, you get the rest of the week off along with other students who participated in the battle."

"Will do Sir." Maka called as the pair left the Death Room via the hall of guillotines.  
>The two of them had hardly had time to talk since the battle; Maka had woken up by the time they reached Death City and they hadn't a chance to stop as they were instantly ushered into the Death Room to give a full report of their experiences at Medusa's hide out.<p>

"Maka?" Sure they were alone at last, Soul sparked the conversation he had been waiting to have with Maka since he regained his memories.

"Yes?" One look at Maka's weary face told him now wasn't the time, Soul would have to wait until they were both fully rested and recovered, it had been a long exhausting week, for Maka more than him. From what he'd heard from Black Star and Tsubaki, Maka was basically a zombie the whole time.

"Uhh, never mind... Look, we're here." Not sure if it was just him who felt the insane amounts of awkward, Soul had to break the silence with something, and how better to do that than to announce their arrival at the school's infirmary. _Smooth Soul, real smooth._ He internally scolded himself for the stupid remark.

_x

The check up was over sooner than expected, all of it was very standard stuff and the pair were back home in their apartment within an hour. Opening the front door, Soul could tell that Maka living on Black Star's couch all week was no exaggeration, the apartment had that empty feel of a home left untouched for a while.  
>Maka wearily made her way to the couch where she collapsed, closing her eyes as she turned her head up to face the ceiling. Soul turned away from the dreary sight before him, feeling even more guilty for having caused his beloved meister this exhaustion, both physical and emotional, he didn't have to be a mind reader to know this week had taken its toll on her. Soul opened the fridge, nothing much in there. <em>Stupid, of course there's nothing here, no one's been home for over a week, why would there be food in the fridge? Guess I'll order in again; ugh, no, I don't think I can deal with another flirtatious delivery girl right now. What's in the cupboard?<em> Rummaging through the cans, Soul found a box of microwave popcorn. _There's a thought, I'm not even that hungry._

"Hey Maka; how hungry are you?" Maka opened her eyes, but didn't move from her position.

"Not very, I'm just kinda tired."

"Cool, so popcorn's alright? I'm not that hungry either. Maybe watch a movie?" She lifted her head this time, turning to face Soul as he stood in the kitchen holding the popcorn box. She smiled.

"Yeah, sure; but I get to pick."

"Okay, whatever, find something and put it on, I'll cook the popcorn." They both went about their respective tasks; Soul read the instructions for popcorn and placed the packet into the microwave, praying to god it didn't burn. Popcorn bowl in hand, Soul sat on the couch next to Maka.

"What are we watching?"

"Easy A, I didn't get to see it in the cinemas and Liz told me it's good, so I bought it a few weeks ago but never got around to watching it." She stopped for a second to think, then dashed off into her room coming back with her massive doona. "It's kinda cold in here, I thought this might be nice." _That adorable smile, how can one person be so cute and so badass at the same time? It's not fair on me._ Maka took the popcorn, placing it on the coffee table as she draped the doona over Soul; she then handed the popcorn back to him, sitting down right next to him under the warm blanket. _She's so close, she could almost be snuggling against me, is she? I can't really tell, she is really close, but does this really count as snuggling?_ Maka hit play on the remote and took a handful of popcorn as the movie started.

Soul never paid much attention to the movie, only catching little bits of it, so far he had figured the main girl was a slut, who wasn't really a slut and that people were paying her to pretend they had sex. _Weird, paying her to pretend she had sex with people, weird._ Maka must have been paying attention because every so often she would giggle at something funny, Soul was too busy watching her and enjoying her presence after so long without it to be paying any attention to the screen. Maka let out another slight giggle, popping a handful of popcorn into her mouth. _She's so cute like this, I can't stand it; I just want to hold her properly, none of this 'sitting really, really close and teasing Soul' bull shit. My arms are aching to be around you._ The last part aimed at Maka, Soul remained in his painfully deprived state, watching his meister watch a movie; in the low lit room he saw her blush lightly, slightly confused Soul diverted his attention to the TV. The main girl was talking about wanting her life to be like an eighties movie, where the guy wins her over with something overly cheesy and romantic, preferably with an unnecessary musical number. _Why is she blushing at this? I'm pretty sure it's meant to be funny, she laughed at everything else except this._

"Hey Maka?" He broke her concentration on the movie and she turned to look at him. "Jeeze Maka, you're bright red! What's gotten to you? Is it too hot under the blanket or something?" _Genius, make it look like I only just noticed, this way she won't know I spent an hour watching her._

"Oh, uh no, it's just the movie, that all sounds so cute; I mean, can you imagine being one of those girls being swept off your feet by your prince on a white horse, and he takes you away somewhere magical. It's a girl thing, I guess." She looked down, suddenly interested in her lap, clearly embarrassed by her little outburst. Soul couldn't help but laugh a little; not at Maka's excited girly-ness, but at how cute she was when she's embarrassed.

"Right, well, what I was going to say was, do you want anymore popcorn?" _Hehe, she'll never suspect a thing, it's like that's what I was intending to ask the whole time._

"Nah, I'm right." Maka turned back to her movie and Soul continued to watch her, constantly amazed by her beauty, while his mind ticked away forming an idea. '_Being swept off your feet by your prince on a white horse'; girls actually like cheesy romance stuff? Alright, I'll be the cheesiest, most romantic guy ever! _Slowly Soul put together a plan to finally ask Maka out properly; her kissing him in Medusa's castle wasn't enough, he wanted to do things right. And although he remembers clearly what she said, Soul couldn't bring himself to believe Maka's words, for all he knew she could just have been caught up in the moment when she claimed to love him and kissed him; though Soul was glad she did, _'Snow'_ wasn't happy with her outburst and who knows what he would have done had Maka not brought _'Soul'_ back.  
>The movie ended and the credits started; Soul finished his plan, now he needed to know if what Maka had said before was true, did she love him? Soul gathered all his courage and the words formed in his mouth.<p>

"Maka, I've been wondering, what you said earlier, about you loving me? Did- did you mean it?" He held his breath, both fearful and excited for her reply; he heard nothing but Maka's steady breath, he had chosen not to look at her when asking, figuring his courage would last longer if he couldn't see her, but when he looked down at her, he saw that was his fatal mistake. Soul was caught up in his thoughts, so much so that he didn't notice Maka fall asleep against him. "Seriously?" Maka stirred, cuddling closer to Soul, he tried to pry her arms from around his torso to no avail; moving Maka would apparently end up with her waking up, not something that would be good for the exhausted meister. _Guess I could just sleep out here tonight, it's pretty comfy and there's already a blanket. _Soul slowly lifted Maka's body, positioning himself so he lay across the couch and shifting Maka to lay on him, using his chest as a pillow. Almost immediately Soul regretted this movement, Maka stirred, disturbed from her sleep. _Might as well have taken her to her room, but where's the fun in that._ Maka calmed again, nestling into Soul's chest mumbling incoherent sleep noises as she did. _Close one, lucky she didn't wake up._ One arm around her protectively, the other hanging off the side of the couch, Soul took one last look at his sleeping meister before closing his eyes.

"Mmfmmblmm..."

"Goodnight to you too, Maka." Soul smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

_x

Morning came too soon for the sleep deprived Maka, taking a deep breath, she pulled the blanket up higher around her neck. _Something's wrong with my bed, it's never been this lumpy; oddly enough this is actually pretty comfy. But that doesn't explain why it feels like a body and not a mattress._ She froze._ It feels like a body._ Still frozen in place._ Who or what am I sleeping on?_ Daring a peek, Maka caught sight of a white shirt, looking up at its owner she saw looked like a white ball of fluff with a little drool seeping from the mouth. _Oh my god. I'm sleeping on Soul. Not next to, _on_ Soul._ Maka's cheeks stained the deepest shade of crimson as she looked up again at the face of her mattress which was mostly obscured by some major bed-hair. _When did this happen? I must have fallen asleep in the movie._ Soul stirred below her, rolling slightly which ended up crushing Maka between his body and the back of the couch, he pulled his other arm up and around her in a clumsy sleepy embrace. _Well shit, how am I supposed to get out now? I could go back to sleep I guess, I can't really do anything else and Soul is pretty comfy._ Maka took this opportunity of Soul holding her, who knew when they would be close like this again, sure they were always close, but they were never intimately close like this; Maka liked it, and not knowing how Soul actually felt about her made this seem like a once in a lifetime chance.

Maka dozed off again only to be awoken again by Soul.

"Mmgrff, ugh. Oh shit." He turned back over, releasing Maka from her prison between him and the couch. "God, you okay Maka? I'm sorry, I must have rolled over. Did I wake you?" Maka opened one eye, peering up at the distressed weapon underneath her. His face was full of horror. _Probably thought he was crushing me._ She opened the other eye and propped up her head on her hands.

"I'm fine, I'm fine; did I fall asleep during the movie? How'd it end?" _I really wanted to see the end of it._

"Uhh, yeah, you did; I don't know how it ended exactly, I was pretty tired myself so I didn't really pay attention." _Damn, guess I'll watch it again later. Damn I really gotta pee._ Maka lifted herself from Soul slightly before his arms gripped onto her, pulling her back down on top of him. Slightly startled, Maka felt a light blush come on when she realised his grip on her wasn't going to stop now that she had been pulled back down.

"Soul, let go!" A challenging smirk crossed Soul's features as he held on tighter.

"I don't know what you mean; you're free to get up when you want." His dazzling smile was tainted with mischievous intent; somehow this made him all the more alluring to the poor Maka trapped in his arms. _Damn, why do I have to pee, this would be a lot more enjoyable if I didn't actually _need_ to get up._ She tried again, barely moving at all before flopping back onto her 'mattress'.

"Soul, seriously, let me up." Smile never faltering, Soul squeezed even tighter.

"I seriously don't understand; get up if you have to, what? Do you expect me to help you up princess? Surely you can manage it on your own." _Damn you._

"Sooouuull." _Please, pretty please._

"Maaakaaa." Ha mocked. _Ball sacks! There's no convincing this boy._

"Soul, come on, I need to pee." Suddenly, his arms lost their grip around her body and Maka missed it.

"Oh, well, if you said that before... But I still don't get how you couldn't just get up and go, not like I was stopping you." _Stupid, can't let it go can he._ Maka smiled to herself as she made her way to the bathroom and took a moment to compose herself before returning. She came back to find the couch bare and Soul standing in the kitchen, rediscovering the lack of food. "Maka, food, we have none." _Why does he always become a Neanderthal when food is the topic?_ Shaking her head at him, she sat at the kitchen table, looking expectantly at Soul. "We could go get something from that bakery across the street? They have good stuff there right?"

"Yeah, but first coffee. Go! Make!" _Now I'm the Neanderthal, hehe._ Soul obediently made a coffee for each of them, pouring the steaming beverage into mugs and handing one to Maka while he leant against the bench, staring out the window as he sipped his drink.

Minutes passed in comfortable silence as the two finished their drinks. "Better get dressed if we're going out for breakfast." Maka stood as she spoke, taking her mug to the sink to rinse it.

"Alright then." Soul left his empty mug on the bench and wandered over to his room. _Course he leaves it for me to clean up._ Maka diligently washed, dried and put away the mugs before rushing off to her own room to get dressed.  
>The sun was burning high over Death City, the pair hadn't realised at first but they had slept well into the early afternoon; by this time the weather was comfortably warm. Maka opened her wardrobe, taking in its contents, a vast majority of her clothes were extras of the skirt, blouse and sweater vest combination she wore to school and on most missions; there were a few pairs of pants, some shirts, a few pairs of shorts. But one this stood out against the rest; the white sundress her mother had sent her as a gift last Christmas, at the time it was slightly too large, especially in the chest area, so she never wore it. <em>Might as well try it out, it <em>is_ a pretty dress, and it might fit by now._ Maka pulled the dress off its hanger, holding it up to her body she looked in the mirror. _Nice, I like it, let's just hope it fits._ She changed into the dress and marvelled at the fact that she now filled it out perfectly. _Success!_ She picked out a pair of virtually untouched flats with a little bow on top, Maka fixed her hair, did a twirl in front of the mirror, taking in the look, satisfied she made her way for the door quickly picking up a light cardigan on her way out.

"Soul, you ready yet?" She called.

"Yeah, just a sec, I'm almost... Done, kay lets go." Swiftly, Soul exited his room, never pausing, grabbed Maka by the arm as he passed, and dragged the two of them out of the apartment, never stopping until they reached the lift.

"Wow, someone's in a rush, I've never seen you this eager to leave your room, let alone the house."

"Remember what I said last night about not being very hungry? Well I am now, let's go, quick before I starve to death!" Soul clearly wasn't lying; he had a crazed look in his eyes which somehow still managed to look good on him.

"Okay, okay, chill, it's just across the street." The pair took the elevator down and Maka was practically dragged across the street by the starving Soul, who then stood at the counter admiring all the baked goodies through the glass. _I guess that's the reason for the glass, to keep people like Soul from drooling on the muffins._

"Hello Maka, it's been a while since I've seen you; how have you been?" Mrs Henson greeted her at the counter, all smiles as usual.

"I've been alright, better than last time I was here." Punctuating her sentence with a smile, Maka turned to the class cases of various baked things, trying to decide on what to eat.

"I take it you won't be buying outrageous amounts of food if you're no longer looking for comfort snacks?"

"I wouldn't count on that, moron here has quite an appetite." Gesturing to Soul, who was still admiring the choices.

"Oh my! I hadn't noticed him before." Mrs Henson was clearly quite surprised to find the strange boy hypnotised by her croissants. "Is this that Soul boy? The one who causes you all that trouble?" She seemed slightly cautious when talking about Soul, as if her words would wake him from his trance and he would suddenly go nuts.

"Yes actually, Soul are you going to actually buy something or do you plan on ogling the bread all day?" Soul broke away from the glass and stood up properly.

"Uhh, yeah, umm, I'll have about five of those." Pointing out a selection of croissants. "And a couple of them." Gesturing to the choc chip cookies. "Actually make it ten cookies, and two banana muffins." Pleased with his selection Soul smiled to himself, drooling slightly; poor Mrs Henson looked like she'd seen a ghost, shocked by the boy's large order, regardless she took the items from their shelves, putting them into a large bag.

"Anything for you Maka?" Turning to the girl, still slightly shocked.

"Umm, I'll have a cheese and ham roll and a gingerbread man." Maka took her significantly smaller bag from Mrs Henson, paid for the food and left. "See you later." Mrs Henson smiled and waved to the pair through the shop's front window.  
>By the time they reached the apartment, Soul had already eaten four of the croissants and was about to start the fifth.<p>

"Soul, geeze, slow down, you're going to give yourself hiccups if you keep scoffing your food like that." Turning the key and opening the door, Maka entered the apartment.

"No I won't, you worry too much." And down went the croissant.

"Whatever, I'm gonna watch that movie again, I missed the ending." She sat on the couch, bag of goodies in hand, and started the movie.

"Cool, I'll just, hic, eat my food." Silence.

"What was that?" Maka asked.

"I said, I'll just eat my food. Hic!" A sly smirk spread across Maka's features.

"Was that a hiccup I heard? Twice? I thought you said you wouldn't get them?"

"Shut-hic-up." That was the end of their brief conversation, Maka once again became enthralled in the movie, laughing at the same jokes she had heard the night before, but this time, paying slightly more attention seeing as the major distraction known as Soul wasn't sitting with her this time.

_x

Soul sat at the kitchen table, watching Maka watch the movie again, but this time with purpose, he had to wait until Maka was completely distracted by the movie before he could do anything, and he only had about an hour and a half before the movie finished to get the job done. Rising from his seat as quietly as humanly possible, Soul collected what he needed and left the apartment.

_x

_What a great movie, I just love it, this is my new favourite movie._ Maka turned off the TV noting that the sky had begun to change, now a rosy peach colour as the sun started to set over the city. She looked around, half expecting to see Soul still sitting at the kitchen table, but of course he wasn't._ He probably went to his room or something when I wasn't paying attention._ She picked up one of her many half-read books from the coffee table and picked up from where her bookmark indicated she had left off, turning on a lamp anticipating that the natural light from the window wouldn't last long.

A chapter or two into the book, Maka heard a door open and close. _Soul decided to come out of hibernation finally._ She continued reading until someone, or rather something, covered her eyes. _What is this?_ She struggled against it and opened her mouth to scream, her attempt to call for help was muffled before it started by a hand.

"Shh, I don't want to have to gag you too." _Soul? What the fuck is he doing?_ "I'm going to take my hand away now, and you're not going to scream." Maka nodded in understanding and Soul's hand was taken away from her mouth. Whatever was covering her eyes was tied at the back of her head and Maka was lifted off the ground and draped carefully over Soul's shoulder. He began to walk.

"What are you doing?"

"Shh."

"What? Don't 'shh' me, where are you taking me?"

"I'm not telling."

"Why not?"

"'Cause."

"That's not an answer, tell me where we're going."

"Can't."

"WHY?"

"It's a secret." Maka could hear the smirk in Soul's voice at this point.

"I'm going to find out at some point you know, might as well tell me now."

"No."

"Come on."

"Don't wanna."

"UGHH, you're so frustrating."

"Shh."

"Did you just 'shh' me again?"

"Yes, now shush, you're ruining the moment."

"What moment?"

"This one." Maka felt herself being lifted and placed on the ground, the blindfold was untied and fell from her face, revealing the rooftop of their apartment building; and just in front of them, a rug surrounded by candles and a picnic basket.

"Soul you-"

"Maka" He took a deep breath, looking down at his feet, preparing himself. "I've wanted to tell you for a while now, but I never really knew how. What you said at Medusa's kinda gave me the courage to finally admit this." Soul looked up at Maka and into her green eyes, which almost glowed with anticipation. "And I love you; I love you Maka Albarn, will you please be mine?" The brightest blush spread across Soul's face as he stared at Maka waiting for an answer; to him it seemed like eternity.

Maka looked straight back at Soul, a smile creeping upon her face. She flung herself at him, almost bringing the two of them crashing to the ground.

"I-I'll take that as a yes?..." Pulling away slightly Maka looked Soul in the eyes.

"Yes, I will; I've been yours for some time now, you just didn't realise it." Suddenly, Soul looked away, letting Maka out of his arms and rushing towards the picnic he had set out.

"Come join me, I can't possibly eat all this on my own." Maka sat down next to him, peering inside the basket. _This is the stuff he bought at the bakery._

"Yes you can, I've seen you eat more than this by yourself plenty of times."

"Shh, you're ruining the moment again." She playfully pushed him, then took out the packet of cookies and proceeded to eat them. "Hey! Share." Cookie in mouth and a mock scowl on her face, Maka reluctantly handed the packet to Soul. "Good. Hey, look, the stars." The couple lay back, Maka resting with her head on Soul's chest, Soul laying on the blanket.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Maka was once again captivated by the night sky, made all the more beautiful because of who she was sharing it with.  
>They laid together for what seemed like an eternity, until the little tea light candles Soul had placed around them started to burn out and the air became too frigid for the pair to pretend it wasn't cold.<br>"Soul? You wanna go back in now?" Maka turned to her boyfriend, who sat up at her words.

"Yeah, you must be freezing in that dress." He stood, helping Maka to her feet; and messily folded the picnic rug, placing it in the basket. Taking her small hand in his, Soul took Maka inside the building and into their apartment.  
>Dropping the basket at the door, Soul picked Maka up, bridal style, sweeping her from her feet.<p>

"Soul!" She giggled after the initial surprise of being suddenly lifted, Soul marched her into her room, placing her on the bed.

"Sleep! Now." He commanded jokingly, standing above her.

"Nope, there's something wrong with this bed, I don't like it; let's swap." A sudden feeling of playfulness took over Maka, she shot up, pushing Soul down onto the bed and darted from her room, into his and onto his bed. _Mmm, comfy, and it smells like Soul._

"Makaa, I want my bed back." Soul's whine was heard from the other room.

"Come get it then." Soul appeared at the doorway.

"You shouldn't have said that." _Huh?_ Next thing, Soul had Maka pinned on the bed below him. The sly grin from this morning once again plastered to his face.

"And what do you plan to do now?"

"I plan to kiss you." Soul lowered himself over Maka, their lips meeting for the second time. Lost in the moment, Soul's hold on Maka loosened as he moved his hands to snake around her waist, her hands finding their ways to tangle in his hair and around his shoulders, pulling him closer for more. Maka moaned slightly, hungry for more; and Soul was more than happy to oblige, tightening his grip on her waist, holding her tighter to his body, Maka responded by wrapping her legs around him, tightening their tangle of limbs and passionate kissing.

_x

Maka woke the next morning once again in an unfamiliar bed; the scent of Soul surrounding her. _I'm in his bed._ Maka recalled the night's events, blushing and grinning like an idiot. That's when she noticed it, the soft sound of a piano. _Where is Soul?_ Opening her eyes, Maka saw Soul wasn't in the bed with her, but sitting at the small keyboard next to his desk. Soul may have given up on his passion for the piano long ago, but that didn't stop him from playing from time to time; hence the electric keyboard in his room, it was no grand piano, but it could be just as easily played.  
>The song sounded reminiscent of Soul's usual dark, wild compositions, but had a much softer, gentler tone.<p>

"Soul? You're playing?" Maka couldn't help but feel ecstatic, Soul hardly ever played, let alone for her. He stopped, turning to her.

"Remember when we first met, I played a song for you and said to you 'that's the kind of person I am'? Well, that-" Gesturing to the keyboard. "Is how you make me feel." He looked away, embarrassed.

"Soul, it's beautiful." Maka stood, walking over to Soul and sat on his desk. "Play it again, for me." Soul looked up at her, grinning from ear to ear, displaying his sharp teeth.

"Looks like you even get an unnecessary musical number to go with your romantic ending." Maka giggled, realising the reference to the movie they had watched. Soul turned back to his keyboard and played his song again for Maka.  
>This had to be the only music Maka had heard and actually understood.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Yaay, finished :D kind of, I'm thinking of adding a bonus chapter of Soul and Maka a year or so into the future; but at the moment I'm not really sure, let me know what you think :)<strong>

**Anyway, thanks guys for reading my story, I'm really stoked by how many people have been reading (it might not be a lot to some people but it is to me) and I think my friends are getting sick of me getting all excited whenever I get a new review or someone puts me on alert etc. Hehe.**

**Also can I just add, for those of you who haven't heard the song Amber Lynn, or read this fic and couldn't be bothered actually listening to it, I seriously recommend it, it's a really beautiful song; well I think it is anyway. :)**


	7. Celebrations Bonus chapter :D

**Take Me Away Tonight**

**THE FINAL CHAPTER, OH MY GAWD!**

**Yeah I know that I took a while with this one, but it didn't really fit the rest of the story (songfic, remember, relates to the song) it's a bonus cause a few of you asked for it and I wanted to write it. The main reason for the MAJOR delay (by my usual standards) was because I forgot what I was doing with this chapter.**

**Anyway, enjoy.**

* * *

><p><span>Celebrations<span>

"Maka! Look at this one, isn't it just the cutest?" Tsubaki called to her friend from across the formal wear section of the large department store, holding up a blue dress for the meister to inspect.

"Wow Tsubaki, it looks amazing, try it on." Tsubaki beamed with excitement at her friend's words and dashed off to the changing rooms to try on her find, Maka waited just outside, mindlessly sifting through a nearby rack. The DWMA's 500 year anniversary ball was coming up and just about every girl was going crazy looking for the perfect dress for the occasion; every girl except Maka, shopping wasn't really her thing, but she knew she would need something to wear and shopping with Tsubaki made the experience less torturous than if she were accompanied by the Thompson sisters.

"I'm done; oh wow, it looks even better when you wear it. Maka I can't decide, this one or the purple one?" Tsubaki stepped out from behind the change room curtain, showing off the dress for her friend, adding a little twirl to get the full effect.

"Huh- oh! That one, definitely that one. How much is it?" Suddenly interested, Maka came forward to better inspect the dress on her tall, well endowed friend; the soft fabric hugged her curves until it came to her waist where it flowed freely, there was one strap over her left shoulder and the dress fell to just above her feet, a split ran down the side of the skirt from mid thigh; the dark blue colour looked like it was made for Tsubaki as it matched her eyes making them stand out.

"It's umm... Oh, I don't think I can afford this." The downcast look on the weapon's face was heartbreaking, she had found the perfect dress and now she couldn't even afford it.

"Surely it's not that much." Checking the tag for herself, Maka giggled slightly at Tsubaki's over reaction. "Of course you can afford this, just use a little of the money you were going to use on a suit for Black Star, he's only going to ruin it anyway, and this dress is worth it. Brightening up at this idea Tsubaki disappeared behind the curtain again, emerging not a minute later, dress in hand, a smile painting her usually clam features.

"I'll do it, you're right, this _is_ worth it. Now we just need something for you..." Tsubaki got lost in her own thoughts, staring off into space; Maka turned back to the rack she was previously looking through.

"What about this?" Tsubaki snapped out of her daze and took a look at the dress Maka held up.

"No."

"What?" Maka was slightly shocked by her modest friend's instant dismissal of the garment.

"It's much too modest Maka, you're not a little girl anymore, and you're allowed to show a little skin you know." Dumbfounded, Maka stood there gaping like an idiot, unsure whether she should be proud of Tsubaki for breaking out of her shell, or hurt by the fact that her choice was so easily cast aside.

"Uhh... Okay, what do you think I should wear?" Still a little shell shocked, Maka regained the use of her voice and waited for her friend's advice.

"Well, you need to get out there and wear something sexy for a change; I mean the look you've got now looks great, but this is a special occasion! Let's see, what size are you? You're a small right? Wait here." Tsubaki rushed off, dropping her own dress into Maka's arms while she scanned through each rack, picking up a few dresses from each. When she got back, there were about five options. "Take these and try them on, and yes you have to come out and show me each one." Without having much time to comprehend her situation, Maka was handed the bundle of fabrics and ushered into a dressing room. She picked the first one from the pile; it was dark green and came to her knees, what irked Maka the most about it was the fact that it was strapless. _No, I can't wear this._ "Maka, hurry up, I need to see you in all of them." Reluctantly, Maka changed into the dress and timidly crept from the change room. "Nope; thought I liked it, but I don't. Next!" Tsubaki called from her newfound seat by the change room door. Relieved, Maka disappeared back into the cubicle and lifted the next item for inspection. _Pink?_ Maka changed, knowing there was no way out of this torture. This dress had straps at least, but it didn't need them, it was incredibly tight fitting and only just covered her properly.

"Tsubaki, I can't wear this." Maka called out to her friend.

"Why not?" Came the reply.

"Because I look like a prostitute."

"It can't be that bad, you're exaggerating." Tsubaki pulled back the curtain to reveal a pink blushing Maka in an equally pink abomination. "Okay, I see what you mean, get rid of it, now! Next!" Tsubaki pulled the curtain shut again and Maka was faced with the next dress, this one was red and thankfully a much more acceptable length than the last one. Though this dress found its downfall in its cleavage, Maka found it dipped way too low in the centre, finally stopping mid-way down her breasts. Maka tried it on and displayed it for Tsubaki. "Much better, very sexy; I like it."

"I don't, look how far down the cleavage is!" Tsubaki didn't look pleased with Maka's antics, but there were still two dresses left so she was sent back to try on the next. This one was silver and _very_ shiny. _I'll look like a disco ball in this._ None the less she tried it on, no more pleased with the results than she was with the other three. She emerged, Tsubaki took one look and shielded her eyes.

"Too reflective, change, now before I do some damage to my eyes." Maka happily obliged; just one dress left, this one was black. It came to her knees and the skirt was ruffled, it was well fitted at the waist and bust, Maka's only objection being that it was strapless. _I kind of like it._ Surprised that Tsubaki had picked something which was acceptable, Maka pulled back the curtain and revealed the dress to her friend. "Perfect! Yes; I knew I didn't pick all failures. Change back, there is no time to waste, we still have to find shoes yet and I need to get Black Star's suit and I think I'll need some matching jewellery too." When Tsubaki was done checking off her to do list, Maka had already changed back to her normal clothes and discarded the failed choices. Moving now to the shoe section with her new dress, Maka was finally feeling the excitement of the upcoming ball.

_x

Soul took in his appearance one more time in his bedroom mirror. He wore a black pinstripe suit over a dark red dress shirt, finishing his look with a black tie and black dress shoes. Soul ran his fingers through his hair, calming the crazily spiked locks; it still managed to look tousled, but more presentable.

"Soul, are you ready yet? Kid's waiting in the car and he's getting impatient." Maka knocked on the other side of the door; reluctantly Soul pulled himself from the mirror and trudged to the door, not at all happy about being dragged to the gala. He opened the door, the sight before him clearing him of his sour mood.

"M-Maka..." Soul's eyes almost fell out of his head, mouth agape, any attempt at looking formal or dignified lost. Maka's face fell, now looking at her feet shuffling uncomfortably. _Why is she looking hurt all of a sudden?_

"Y-you don't... Like it." Her face fell further, if that were even possible. Her statement caught him off guard. "I-I can go change, I have other dresses I could wear." She turned to go to her room but was stopped by Soul's sudden grip on her wrist. _Stupid, thinks I don't like her dress._ Shaking his head as he pulled her closer.

"What makes you think I wouldn't love to see you in a beautiful dress like this?" Smiling down at her as he held her to his chest.

"Y-you didn't say anything, you were just standing there, staring at me." Soul's light laughter punctuated her speech.

"What am I going to do with you? Of course I was staring, moron, you look... amazing." A blush tinted Soul's face several shades darker, he still wasn't used to voicing his opinions like that, especially when it came to compliments. He had to ruin the uncool-ly awkward, mushy atmosphere somehow. "Though I think you'd look a lot nicer not wearing anything at all." The sleazy grin on his face quickly disappeared with one look at Maka's flaming eyes.

"Makaa-CHOP!" Maka plucked her hardcover book from the newly formed groove in Soul's head and dragged his unconscious body by the collar out to the car only to be assaulted by Kid.

"Maka, your hair!"

"What about it?" The meister was clearly not appreciative of the young reaper's antics.

"It's unsymmetrical, your hair is usually up in two symmetrical, strait pigtails, but now you've curled your hair and the pigtails aren't symmetrical." Kid began sobbing hysterically in his seat; Soul had come-to at some point during his rant.

"There's nothing wrong with her hair." He growled at the crazed reaper. "Just drive already would ya, I'm getting tired of waiting." Soul slouched in his seat, his mood soured again by the Maka chop he had received earlier. "Why are we even going to this stupid party anyway?"

"Because we're students at the academy, it would be rude of us not to attend the anniversary party. Also it would be nice to go out once in a while." Maka's logical answer only annoyed Soul more seeing as he couldn't really argue with it. _Damn stupid fancy parties and stupid girls expecting you to take them to the stupid fancy parties. Why can't we just stay home, these sorts of events really aren't my scene._ There was one last stop for the group on their way to the ball, Black Star and Tsubaki's house. The car pulled up outside and before Kid could even put on the parking brakes, a mass of blue and black landed on the hood of his precious car, indenting the metal in an asymmetrical fashion.

"Why you buffoon! You pea brained moron! You've ruined the perfect symmetry of my car!"

"Behold peasants, it is I, Black Star; here to get the party started! YAHOO!" Black Star's attire had seen better days, his suit was creased, the jacket sliding off one shoulder, the shoes were scuffed and his tie was so loose it was a wonder it stayed done up. Tsubaki's entrance was much more elegant, as was her appearance. Her hair was down, falling like a waterfall of black down to the small of her back and the dress looked a thousand times more amazing than in the dressing rooms now that she wore it with matching shoes and jewellery.

"Black Star, get off Kid's car, he was nice enough to give us a ride, the least you could do is to not jump all over it." Tsubaki pleaded with her meister, taking a seat in the back next to Maka. "Kid, is there enough room in this car for everyone? It doesn't seem like we'll all fit." Tsubaki anxiously glanced around the vehicle, it had bench seats in both the front and back which made room for six people, but their group consisted of seven.

"Not to worry, I planned ahead; I would never allow Black Star inside my car, he would destroy it's symmetry, so he will be seated on the roof." Seeing the distressed look on Tsubaki's face, Kid quickly consoled her. "Oh, but you see, I installed a set of handles on the roof for him to hold onto; it's all very safe."

"AWESOME! There's handles up here; bags sitting on the roof." Black Star made an appearance on the front windscreen, hanging upside down from the roof. "HAH! You guys miss out, only I, the great Black Star, may have the honour of sitting atop this vehicle. Now mush, take me to my grand party, it's about time the star makes his entrance!"

"Well, I guess Black Star sorted that out on his own." Tsubaki smiled light-heartedly, but everyone knew she was still anxious about Black Star being on the roof of a moving car.

It wasn't long before the group arrived outside the school; they could see other party goers, students, teachers and pretty much anyone who'd ever been to the academy. "Wow, sure are a lot of people here tonight." Maka stated the obvious as she took to the stairs, arm linked with Soul's. _Way too many people._

"Yeah, looks like a pretty good turn out." Soul put on a happy face for his meister/girlfriend, she was more excited about the party than he thought, and he wasn't going to ruin it.

"I'M HERE EVERYONE, NOW THE PARTY CAN REALLY BEGIN! Tsubaki, quick, we gotta get to the buffet; I heard they have plates piled to the ceiling with food. LET'S GO!" Black Star sped past the couple, Tsubaki in tow.

"Black Star, you should really slow down, I can't keep up in these shoes." Ignoring Tsubaki's pleas, Black Star vanished through the doors, no doubt making a bee-line to the buffet. Now that they were closer to the actual building, Soul could hear the music flowing from the main hall where the ball was to be held, and the chatter of god knows how many people already enjoying the festivities.

"Hurry up Soul, my grandmother could walk faster than you." Still attached to his arm, Maka pushed against him causing Soul to momentarily lose his balance.

"Yeah, yeah; let's go in, I guess." Soul still wasn't entirely convinced about this party; he resented having to be here like this. _Why couldn't we just stay home tonight?_

The hall was lavishly decorated, and was of course symmetrical seeing as Kid had personally overseen the decorating. The hired band was positioned next to the stage and the buffet, now undergoing demolition via Black Star, was on the other side. Lord Death approached the podium in the centre of the stage and the whole room stopped to see him before erupting into applause.

"Yo! Hey, hiya; thanks for coming, great to see you." The room once again applauded after Lord Death spoke. "Okay, well that's about all I have to say, Have a great time tonight." _That was kinda short..._ Kid looked slightly put off by his father's lack of formality, his irritation clearly visible on his face. He couldn't help himself, Kid stepped forward to address the crowd.

"All, if I may speak as well. Thank you for taking the time to come here; tonight at this gala, we celebrate something dear to all of our hearts, the founding of our academy. If you will kindly indulge me, I Death the Kid would like to say a few words in honour of the occasion. We all know the mission of this school, to maintain peace in the world-"

"YAHOO! YAHOO! WOO! It's _me_ in all my glory, you all wanna know the amazing Black Star, YEAH!" Black Star's shouting came from above the stage where he hung off a curtain. _How did he get up there unnoticed?_ Kid grimaced and tried to regain composure.

"Of course this is all thanks to-"

"Hear me people, it's me with a capital 'M'. I'm the only person big enough to capitalise 'me'." Kid was getting seriously pissed now and somehow Black Star was managing to cling to the massive curtains while fist pumping.

"Anyway, as I was saying-" Frustration tainting his speech as he spoke through clenched teeth, Kid was interrupted again by Black Star's obnoxious laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Kid snapped, breaking Black Star from his laughter with a foot to the face; a punch-up between the two broke out as the crowd watched in awe. "What do you think you're doing you can't interrupt my big speech!" Black Star vented his anger through violence and words _simultaneously, _a great feat for the simple minded assassin.

"You're the one who interrupted, you hopeless idiot; I wanted my speech to be precise and exact." Suddenly breaking from the fight, Kid now sobbed, hunched over on the floor. "Now it's ruined, I want to die."

"That jerk, who's party does he think this is anyway?" The now bloody and bruised Black Star had now turned to his buddy Soul, looking for someone to back him up.

"You do realise it's not yours, don't you?" Soul was in no mood to encourage or put up with his friend's stupidity; right now he wanted nothing more than to be in the comfort of his home, possibly curled up on the lounge with Maka, pretending to watch some girly movie of her choice. Unfortunately, he was stuck here until Maka deemed it time to go home.  
>The party picked up after the fight dispersed, music began playing and Soul managed to slip away from the crowd, isolating himself on the large balcony with a glass of punch. He rotated the glass, watching the liquid inside slosh from side to side as he wallowed in self pity. Soul might have enjoyed the party had it not been a painful reminder of life with his family; the Evans family are renowned musicians, very high up in social class. The need to be immaculately dressed and follow strict rules of etiquette constantly due to the family's status never appealed to Soul and after suffering that torture for most of his life, he was a little more than unwilling to attend a formal event.<br>"Soul." Maka's voice broke through his pitiful thoughts, bringing Soul back to reality.

"Hey Maka, what's up?" He tried to sound casual and flippant, but he couldn't shake the gloomy expression which practically screamed that he didn't want to be here.

"The food's really great tonight, don't you wanna eat something?" Soul took notice of the full plate in her hands, the food really did look appetizing, but nothing she could say would get him inside and socialising.

"Eh... I don't feel like standing in line for some fancy food, besides eating while you're standing up is awkward." Maka looked at him with her bright eyes full of silent worry for her beloved partner, but said nothing to point out his lame excuse, instead opting to act as if she bought his lies.

"You're missing out Soul." As if to prove her point, Maka took a bite of her food, chewing contently while Soul continued to look out over the city. "This stuff is delicious."

"Fine then give me some of yours." He really was pretty hungry, and the food did look amazing.

"Nope." Maka's face instantly turned sour at the prospect of _sharing_ her food.

"Food hog." Maka stood seething for a moment before getting lost in thought, her face softened and she placed her plate on the balcony's wide stone rail.

"Uh Soul, is something bothering you, you've been real bitchy all night for no apparent reason."

"No, nothing's bothering me."

"You can talk to me about these things you know."

"Sure, but nothing's wrong."

"Ughh." Maka's groan of frustration snapped Soul back to reality again, suddenly apprehensive of having said or done something to piss her off.

"Uh, what is it?" His voice shook in fear, anticipating a large hardcover book to be pulled from nowhere and implanted into his skull.

"You're so... Ughh... We're partners, Soul; we're even _dating_, I can tell there's something bothering you, but you clearly don't trust me enough to tell me." Soul was taken aback by this. _Why are women so weird?_ Before he could look into it further, Maka's rage subsided and she suddenly brightened up, grabbing his hand and dragging his from his position against the rail. "Let's dance." After the confusion subsided and Maka's words settled in, Soul became sour again.

"Forget it, I don't wanna." Maka wasn't impressed

"Come on, you know you're a good dancer. I'll let you lead. Besides, dancing is good for matching soul wavelengths, so quit arguing." Once again Maka was tugging on Soul's arm, trying to coax him inside.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! Come dance with your Papaa~." Spirit came out of nowhere, coming at Maka with open arms, a hopeful look of pure bliss etched into his face.

"No." Maka's blunt answer sent Spirit crashing to the ground, hopes crushed by his daughter's harsh rejection.

"Talk about perfect timing." Soul pushed Maka towards her heart broken father. "All children need to bond with their parents Maka, you should dance with him."

"I don't feel like bonding." Maka's protest came out sounding childish, only proving her defeat.

"YES! Soul's exactly right!" Spirit, now full of energy again dragged his unwilling daughter inside. Soul turned back to his position._ I wonder what he would do to me if he found out I'm dating he precious daughter?_

"Soul guard my food!" Maka called out to him as she was pulled away.

"She wants me to guard her food, yet she refused to let me have any." Soul spoke to himself, thinking out loud, as he sometimes did when alone. He turned to the food in question. "Huh? She can't stand raw fish, why would she get salmon? Fickle woman." He stood contemplating his meister's odd choice of food. "Oh... It's for me." Realisation dawned on Soul that she had intended the food to be his, knowing he wouldn't go inside to get some himself. He took advantage of the offer, savouring the delicious food. He continued to stare out into the city.  
>Soul polished off the last of Maka's food and turned to look into the ballroom, leaning lazily against the railing, watching Maka dancing with her father; they appeared to be talking about something.<em> It's good that they're talking, Spirit might be a major creep, but he's still her father.<em> They stopped dancing, Spirit's face became distorted with what looked like rage and pain; Maka visibly panicking motioned for Soul to 'get the fuck out of here'. Or at least that's what he thought she mouthed to him. She didn't need to tell Soul twice, Spirit looked murderous; thinking quick, Soul scampered off to the main door, making a run for it and gaining a few quizzical looks as he hurried past dancing couples. _SHIIIIIT!_

Finally free from the ballroom and Spirit's homicidal glare, Soul sat down on the stairs which led to the academy and his potential killer. It only took a minute or two for Maka to catch up with him, taking a seat next to her partner.

"Sorry; Papa and I were actually having a really good conversation for a while until he asked how we were going since you came back, and I don't know how, but it must just have slipped out that we were dating and that we had kissed; next thing I knew he looked like he was about to have an aneurism. Ugh, I should have just kept my mouth shut, but I thought we were finally actually connecting and it seemed harmless; I've just gone and ruined our night." Maka hung her head in shame.

"You didn't ruin the night, that party sucked anyway. Let's go." Soul moved to go home, and Maka sulkily followed. After walking in silence for a few minutes, she spoke up.

"I can't believe this dress is getting wasted, I spent so much money on it too." She spoke more to herself than to Soul, but her words made him think. _Maybe I shouldn't have been so stupid tonight, if I actually participated and danced with her, we wouldn't have had to leave. I should make it up to her, Maka was so excited about tonight._

_x

They walked all the way home together; and at some point, Soul had given Maka his jacket. They reached the apartment, thankful to be out of the cool night air; Maka being thankful for finally ridding herself of the painful shoes she wore, and flopped on the couch. "Maka?"

"Mmm?"

"What're you thinking about?" She had a slight scowl on her face, signalling that she was deep in thought.

"Nothing really, just wondering what everyone else is doing, and if they're having fun without us." Clearly Maka wasn't going to let this go easily, which is understandable; tonight was the 500th anniversary of Shubusen's founding (1) a once in a lifetime event.

"Hmph, I'll be back." Soul left to his room in his usual indifferent posture. A moment later, Maka could hear the sounds of soft music flowing from his room; and a moment after that, Soul emerged. Standing in front of her, he held out a hand to her. _Soul wants me to... Dance?_ Placing her own hand in his extended one, Maka was pulled up from her position on the couch, and let Soul lead them around the living room dancing to the music.

"You didn't have to-" Maka's objection was cut off by Soul pressing his lips to hers.

"Yes I did, I owe it to you, I was being an idiot before."

"That's because you are an idiot." Maka pulled herself closer to her partner, they had stopped actually dancing and were now simply swaying in time with the music. "Why were you so moody tonight anyway?"

"The whole 'fancy party' thing, it reminded me of life back with my family, not a time full of pleasant memories. Coming here was an escape from that; I didn't really want the reminder." There was no sound but the music while Maka thought about what Soul had just confessed.

"I see, you could have told me before, we didn't have to go."

"But you wanted to; I had to go with you. It's over now so don't worry about it." The couple continued to sway, pressed closely to each other's bodies, Maka felt _something_ hard through the fabric of their clothes.

"Soul, is that? uhh... Do you...? Erm." The swaying ceased and Soul was in serious mode, it was evident by the concern in his face.

"I what? What's wrong?" The embarrassment must have been evident on Maka's face; she could feel the heat of a blush in her cheeks.

"Do you have an... _Erection_?" She whispered that last, _dirty_ word (2).

"What? No, pfft, no. Why?" Relieved, Soul relaxed from his tense posture.

"Oh, I uhh, I _felt_ something hard and it was in that general area, and yeah..." If she was blushing before, Maka must have looked like a tomato right now, she _never_ spoke about these sorts of things, it's uncouth in her eyes.

"Oh! Right, that, it was going to be a little surprise later, but seeing as you noticed, might as well pull it out now." _He had better not be talking about what I think he is. If he is, he's getting a million books to the head and emasculation._ It however _wasn't_ what Maka's overactive mind had thought it was, from his pocket, Soul extracted a small velvet box, it looked old and beaten and the velvet was worn around the corners. Maka's mind was in overdrive.  
>Soul opened the box and pulled out a little silver ring, he examined it for a moment, a look of thought on his face. "My Gran gave it to me when I left home; it was her engagement ring from my Grampa. She said that when I find the right girl, to give it to her." He looked up from the ring held in front of his face, and into Maka's eyes. "I honestly can't see myself with anyone but you, Maka. Really, I don't think anyone else would put up with me like you do." Soul could see slight fear in his partner's eyes, despite how she might hide it, she did still have her fears about men and their philandering ways, and such a huge step at such a young age surely frightened her. "I-it's not what you think, I'm not proposing, not now anyway. I'm giving it to you as a promise ring." She stared at him blankly, the fear was gone, but she didn't seem to comprehend the last part.<p>

"Promise ring?" _What's a promise ring? I've only heard of them being a sign of abstinence until marriage, is that what he means? Why would Soul give me something like that?_

"Yeah..." Soul gave her a moment to understand, but she clearly didn't. "And here I was thinking you were the _smart_ one. A _promise ring_, as in a ring showing a promise to be monogem- momoga- mono- that word that means only seeing one person."

"Monogamous?"

"Yeah, that. And a promise for the future, that we'll stay together. So, whaddaya say?" Soul held the little ring out on his palm for his meister to accept or reject. She studied it for a second, it was a thin silver band with a pattern resembling a love heart on either side of the oval shaped jem, an emerald; Maka lifted the ring from Soul's slightly sweaty palm, he was nervous, very nervous.

"Which finger does it go on?"

"Huh?" Casually, Soul whipped his hands on his pants. "Any finger you want, I guess."

"Oh, okay." Maka proceeded to try the ring on each finger, checking first if it fit that finger, then if it looked good in that particular digit. After trying each of her fingers, and then going back to try it on a few twice, she finally settled for her ring finger in her right hand. "It fits my ring finger, and we're not _engaged_ so it made sense for it to be on my right hand." Maka felt the need to explain her choice as Soul looked at her in amusement.

"Whatever you want, you accepted it so I'm happy, where you wear the ring doesn't faze me." Despite his nonchalant words, Soul couldn't hide his joy, it showed in the form of a wide, jagged smile.

"Did I ever tell you that I love you?" Maka closed the space between them with a tight hug.

"Yeah, I think so, doesn't hurt to repeat it." Deciding not to ruin the moment with a Maka-chop, Maka decided to let his smug comment slide and go along with it.

"I love you."

"I love you too; and unfortunately you're stuck with me now, forever."

"I don't mind, I can put up with you till then; I love you, remember?"

"You might say that _now_, but I only get worse."

"Makaaa-CHOP!" _Who am I kidding, this is Soul we're talking about, the moment died the second I accepted the ring._

**_Fin._**

* * *

><p>WOOH! Finally finished. I was considering putting in some Medusa action; initially I used the anniversary so, like in the anime, Medusa interferes with her grand plan and there's a big battle where she's defeated. Buuut I forgot how I was going to make that happen so I went with some mushy romancey-ness instead. Thank you for reading my story, and an extra thank you for those of you who reviewed or favorited. Please tell me what you thought, if you liked my ending or not (if you don't too bad, it's not changing).<p>

(1): I figured that 500 years was kind of accurate, if Arachne made demon weapons 800 years ago then the academy would be founded after that, and 500 years is a good time for a big anniversary party.

(2): Maka is a prude, in this story anyway, she's never _been_ with a guy before, especially considering her general mistrust of men, so she'd be pretty innocent and being an innocent little flower would find the topic of sex and sexually related topics to be an impolite topic and would probably be a little squeamish; especially considering at the time she thought she just had Soul's boner pressing into her.


End file.
